Off...

LeGrand has informed me that he's going to be outside shooting Big Bad Wolves. I hope he gets some. The world needs less Big Bad Wolves. Unless they're in Fairy Tales. Then they could be essential to the plot.

Meeting Bailey

Friday last, all the children came to the NICU to meet Bailey. It was a joy to see them - I hadn't realized how much I had missed them until I saw them all again... I definitely do NOT like having my family separated.

Caroline saw Bailey first - with Dad. Then Savannah and Margaret scrubbed up so that they could hold her, and finally LeGrand. I think he was most pleased to meet her - he's certainly been a proud brother.

I learned during my stay at the NICU with Bailey that the church really is a wonderful support - even when you don't physically talk to a person or see someone. I needed a toothbrush. Badly. After asking at the desk if they had one, I was provided with a plastic bag filled with lotion (in the container), a tube of toothpaste, a toothbrush, a small container of shaving cream and a razor, a washcloth - decent sized, not like the little ones at the hospital, and shampoo and conditioner. Several months ago, our Relief Society put together some kits with the same stuff. Based on the size of the lotion, this humanitarian kit didn't come from my ward, but somewhere, someone put it together and I was grateful for the reminder of the Sisterhood that the Relief Society provides. I was exceedingly grateful for the toothpaste. You can see by the photo that I was more interested in staying with Bailey than in showering. I took a shower first thing after getting Bailey to the Stahr's so we could pick up the rest of the children. It was a necessity. I couldn't even stand to be around me!

I'm just glad that Bailey is no longer attached to an IV, wires or anything else that keeps her from being close to me. And very glad that the stay at the NICU was short.

Tender Mercies and Small Miracles

On Wednesday, 18 May 2011, Bailey A. Stahr (we're still discussing the spelling of her middle name, which is Ane or Ann or Anne depending on what we end up with...) made her appearance into the world. She was 3 weeks early, and came in a rush (15 minutes from floating to appearing...). Her birth at home was relatively uneventful - just fast.

Shortly after she was born, she developed respiratory issues - read: her face was still blue, and she was grunting for air and not wanting to nurse. After administering oxygen for 4 hours without complete resolution, Andrew gave her a blessing and we decided to transport her to the hospital in Silverton. We left our house sometime around 7:30 PM, and got to Silverton 20 minutes later. Bailey still grunting and not pink in her face. She looked like she had some major bruising. She was admitted immediately.

The nurses and doctor in the ER started an IV with ampicillan and gentomyacin (and I'm sure I didn't spell either of those correctly...) as antibiotics just in case there was an infection that she was fighting, administered oxygen, and took some blood samples to run cultures on. And then they took an x-ray of her lungs. A few minutes later, the doctor came back and told me that she had a partially collapsed left lung (he used the medical term, but I can't remember what it was and had to ask him what he meant anyway - sleep deprivation, no medical training... you understand, I'm sure, so I won't force it on anyone...) and that he had already called Panda and they were on their way from Portland with an ETA of approximately 2 hours to transport Bailey to Doernbecher's Children's Hospital. During this last sentence, I'm thinking: "He called for Chinese food and it's coming from PORTLAND???" And then the Doernbechers came and I realized that my baby was going to one of the best children's hospitals in the northwest to go to the NICU. It wasn't the best of feelings. As you can well imagine.

Panda came and loaded Bailey into the incubator and got her hooked to oxygen up her nose and a tube down her throat to make sure that the air they were forcing into her lungs wasn't going to stay in her stomach. The ambulance driver gave Andrew instructions on how to get to the hospital "just in case we have to hit the lights and siren..." and we were on our way.

When we got into the truck (I couldn't ride in the ambulance with her because she was less than 24-hours old and they're not equipped to care for moms in distress - Andrew could have ridden, and I could have driven the truck, but I have a history with Andrew's truck and it resulted in a hole in the side - I wasn't in any condition to try to drive...) and said a prayer as we followed the ambulance.

As soon as we arrived, Bailey was wheeled to the 12th floor at OHSU and admitted to Doernbechers Neonatal Care Center (also known as the NICU). There, she had another chest x-ray to check her lungs again. This time, the x-rays didn't show any collapse of her lung. Tender Mercies and Small Miracles.

We spent 2.5 nights and 2 days in the NICU while Bailey was weaned off of the forced oxygen and completed her antibiotics round. During this time she had an Echo-Cardiogram to see if the respiratory issues were due to heart issues. They found that she has an enlarged aorta near her heart, so she has a follow-up visit with a cardiologist in November. We're confident that she won't have any lasting effects.

While it was difficult to watch the ambulance with our newborn drive off, I will admit that for the first time that day, I felt peace and knew that all would be well. Again, a Tender Mercy from the Lord.

Perhaps the highlight of my stay in the NICU was having all the children come on Friday to meet Bailey and to have their picture taken with her. Caroline was first to see her, then Savannah and Margaret together, and finally LeGrand. He promptly informed me that she was "funny..." and then admitted that she was "priddy tute." He's such a proud big brother!!! After meeting Bailey, Andrew and I took the rest of the children on OHSU's Air Tram down the hill and across the freeway. I think THAT was the highlight for them!

I am grateful for the blessings of the Lord. For a healthy baby girl who is doing well and i am grateful for tender mercies and seemingly small miracles.

pictures of the rest of the children to follow.........

voting has now been closed...

Once again, if you didn't vote early, your vote doesn't count. Baby girl was born Wednesday, 18 May 2011 at 3:55 pm. read all about the adventure (no gross details - promise!) tomorrow when I have time to post her cute little picture!

Anything Dad can do, I can do TOO!!!

On Friday, as we were preparing the soil to plant a garden, LeGrand decided to help. He was right up there with Andrew. Doing EVERYTHING Andrew did. He was an excellent helper. The following pictures prove it.

LeGrand is still convinced that Andrew bought him a tractor... he just believes that it's over at the neighbor's house until he can drive it. He's looking forward to planting more of a garden - as soon as the soil is ready! He was my #1 helper yesterday planting my herbs and other flowers. He loves to help and even thanks Heavenly Father in his prayers that he can help Dad and asks for another chance to be a helper. "Because I'm a good helper. I'm going to help him when he wants me to!..." He is certainly the best of helpers.

(*note the expression on both his and Andrew's faces on the tractor... like father, like son!)

Update 5.17.11

So. Since it's been a couple of weeks, and we've done a lot, I thought it was about time to add some photos.

Savannah finished the third grade sometime last week or the week before! YAY! Now on to a mix of 4th and 5th grade depending on the subject! (She's NOT counting down days for school to start again...) She just finished reading The Extraordinary Princess and is now in the middle of The Princess Academy. Both books she's hoping to discuss with others who have read them. She is a lot like her mom in that she seems to always have her nose in a book. She may be reading more than one book now... I'm not sure. If only she'd have the same enthusiasm for schoolwork......... (I think my parents may have said the same thing about me!)

Margaret has decided that it's o.k. to stop substituting the "T" sound or "D" sound for certain letters, and is thrilled that she can now pronounce "K" and "R" and "G" properly. (She came running downstairs and announced to me "BONK! I can say, BONK!" And then went back to bed. She's adding new words daily.

LeGrand thinks that we bought him a tractor, but that it's at the neighbor's house because he's not old enough to drive. We didn't. We borrowed the tractor, but he's still claiming it as his own.

Caroline is enjoying life and wandering everywhere she can as long as she doesn't let me out of her sight. Her preferred location is still where I am. Her favorite thing is her stuffed penguin, it's small enough that she's a lot larger than it.

Andrew just finished an amazing entertainment center and some bunkbeds and is now working on a bookshelf! (Pass the word if you know of people needing beds or any other special wood project!) He's right in the middle of baseball season and getting ready to start summer ball and the busy umpire schedule that will bring. He's been hit by the ball quite a bit this year - which has brought some impressive bruising and some nights of extreme soreness, but he still loves it - and I love that it gives him something else to do!

Me... I spent all last week cleaning. I cleaned the sun room (and changed out the picture frames too...) including wiping down all the walls and getting rid of the cobwebs and washing the windows. I cleaned the study. I cleaned the music room. I cleaned the kitchen. I cleaned the bathroom. I cleaned the living room. I cleaned the dining room. I cleaned my bedroom - including vacuuming under the bed. And then I cleaned them all again! I had my first piano recital - it was a marvelous display of talent from my students. I planted oregano. I planted thyme. I planted peppermint (in a container). I planted rosemary. I planted becopa. I planted lobelia. I planted something that I really don't know what is, but the flowers are beautiful. I planted strawberries. I went with the children and purchased tomato plants and other starts to plant in our garden. And I still haven't had this baby. I'm about ready to do jumping jacks. The upside to all of that is that my windows - some of which haven't been washed since we moved in (I know - gross... but I'm really sort of unintentionally anti-window washing) have all been washed. Some of them on the outside as well as on the inside. Amazing what a good washing will do for lighting in the house!

Our home school co-op even took a trip last week down to Albany, OR to see the makings of a new carousel. The animals are being hand carved and painted all by volunteers. It was awesome. LeGrand loved the guy carving stick horses. And all the other animals. I was fascinated by the skill and the beauty of each animal, and the stories behind them. Each animal is sponsored by a different family who got to choose what the animal would look like. The animals are hollow, so that the sponsor can put a little time capsule inside with information about why they chose the particular animal and why the animal has the name and clothing or design that it has. The base for the carousel is circa 1909 with some updating, and was donated by a man who's mother had it in her driveway. (Some people have an excess of vehicles, she had the base for a carousel. Bet she's glad to have the driveway space back now!) After the carousel museum, we all went out for ice-cream cones that were $1.10 each. Soft serve. HUGE. Well worth the money. And then we went home.

Andrew has tilled up space for our garden (hence the purchase of so many plants) and he and the children planted onions and peas last Saturday. We're still waiting for warmer weather to plant the remainder of our crop (which will include 37 tomato plants, a lot of pepper plants, cauliflower, beans, broccoli - just for you, Dad - squash, cucumbers, zucchini, corn and potatoes.) We're hoping to do that this coming Friday (which will be day two of warm weather this week...)

Chick Update...

We now have 38 Chicks at our house. My favorite ones are the Polish ones. They'll have fun hair when they're grown. Pictures later.

Something to do at Easter...

Other than eat candy and deviled eggs and black jelly beans, that is...

I bought some Peeps today. Some blue, yellow and pink rabbit shaped ones. I am not letting them go stale. Delicious though they may be that way. Instead, and with any luck, I'll be starting a bonfire and breaking out the graham crackers and chocolate. Then, those little rabbits will be skewered on a roasting stick, stuck over the fire until they are nice and toasted, and then squished between the graham cracker and the chocolate. Someone else calls them S'meeps. I'm not sure what to call them. Either way, as sick and wrong and at the same time absolutely hilarious as I find it, I'm looking forward to trying them. And I don't even like S'mores. We'll probably save this for Family Home Entertainment. Sounds like a delicious treat.

In other news, Caroline and LeGrand and Savannah and Margaret all love the 18 baby chicks that now live on our farm.

What we did yesterday...

We spent a LOVELY evening visiting with the Dave McQuivey Family! Dinner was divine, and their boys spent a great deal of time teaching LeGrand how to be a boy - no Barbies allowed! (Although Bryce did give Margaret a Barbie that he, Bryce, got for Christmas... Margaret is in 7th Heaven!!!) LeGrand asked me last night, "Mom, tant I sweep in my new baseball hat?" (New hat courtesy of Kole...) Savannah and Margaret also got in on the ball throwing action, and I'm excited to be able to spend more time this summer with them! We're catching up on cousin bonding time not spent during the growing up years... wish more siblings lived within the 1.5 hour range so that we could spend more time also!!! Ingrid and I have made a goal to get our families together more frequently than every time a new baby is born or someone is baptized... so far we've done better! We played games on New Year's Eve at our house, planned (and missed) dinner for February, had a lovely dinner last night at the McQuivey's, and will get together after this baby is born here in Salem - the up to Woodland WA for s'mores and a bonfire this summer! (Other cousin spottings were at Time Out for Women in November, and Ethan's baptism - which was wonderful to attend. One of Ingrid's in-laws had asked if anyone from her side of the family was coming, and she said no... so it was a great surprise for her that we came; and fun for the girls to get to know their cousins a little better.) At any rate - it was fun to spend time together... and still be home at a decent hour!

Rumor Control

So I heard a rumor the other day that I may have inadvertently started, but certainly haven't perpetuated...

Rumor has it that Andrew and Linda are having twins!

Rumor can talk all it wants, but as of today, March 28, there is NO DEFINITE PROOF of that. The midwife hasn't ruled out twins, but also hasn't heard more than one heartbeat. The midwife's words are something along these lines: "Twins can mirror each other so that you only hear one heartbeat, and weight gain isn't necessarily an indicator of twins. Neither is the way a mother measures during pregnancy. It's a possibility, but not necessarily a probability." This from a woman who gave birth to twins and had no indication she was carrying twins until two months before she delivered. So... Unless we have an ultrasound (which frankly isn't in the budget) or I give birth to more than one baby, it's ALL RUMOR. We'll certainly inform everyone if there is more than one baby - sometime in May or June.

Now... If the thought of us having twins is merely something else for people to talk about, please continue to talk. But please also keep in mind that twins - while they would be welcome at our house and Savannah and Margaret both WANT them because I would stop working at the temple - aren't a definite.

If you ask LeGrand, we're not only having twins, I'm also going to give birth to a puppy. He's also only two, and I don't really take advice from him. He just wants a puppy. Twins or not, the only definite to this equation is that there is definitely a baby on the way. In a short two months or so.

And now... I'm off to make breakfast for the rest of the hungry brood.

Disgusting...

There are few things more disgusting than being barfed on at 2:30 in the morning by a child that you thought was just fussing because she was uncomfortable. I guess comfort comes in many different forms. After all, My tummy ALWAYS feels better after throwing up... just never on someone else.

Overhead while sleeping...

Before I go into details, I have to explain that Savannah was responsible for ALL the meals yesterday (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner...) She did a fabulous job with help from Mom, and is rapidly on her way to becoming an excellent cook.

Now to the story...

As I was waking up yesterday morning, I heard Margaret talking to Andrew. This is the conversation:

M: "Dad, you know those little round chocolate balls? That chocolate cereal that looks like Poop but tastes like Chocolate? Those are Cocoa Puffs.
We're having them for breakfast."
A: "What else are we having?"

Savannah made delicious smoothies, toast, and for those who could get the image of cocoa puffs looking like poop but tasting like chocolate out of their heads, cocoa puffs were included.

Lunch was Submarine Sandwiches and chips with Cranberry Juice to drink.

Dinner was Tortellini Alfredo with Broccoli and Ham. Garlic Breadsticks on the side, and Kool-Aid to drink. We had sherbet for dessert. There were no leftovers for ANY of the meals.

All About Caroline

She was born on February 26, 2010 sometime around 12:45 AM. Tipping the scales at 5 lbs, 10 oz, she was the smallest of the Stahr Children... (this particular photo was taken hours after she was born...) At 11 months, Caroline started walking. She was the EARLIEST of the Stahr Children to walk... She has kept her dark hair, and is currently working on getting some molars. She can't eat apples because they cause major diaper blisters (she can, however, drink our apple cider... haven't figured that out yet...), loves marshmallows, tolerates Hot Chocolate (it took her several hours to drink 4 oz...), loves dried strawberries and dried bananas (we found the freeze-dried ones in the baby food aisle), LOVES broccoli (sorry, Dad... all my children do...), loves Mom - especially at 2 in the morning... and gives fabulous hugs.
And now... she's 1. She celebrated in style, with White Chicken Chili and delicious Corn muffins (we thought they were delicious, Caroline picked at them and wouldn't eat them), and some pineapple cloud cake with whipped cream topping (she was more fond of the whipped cream than the cake...). Opening presents was fun too - although we should have ENDED with the baby doll, instead of starting with it. Until we hid the baby, Caroline wouldn't have anything to do with the rest of her presents. She sleeps with her baby, loves her baby, and looks for it when she can't find it. And she's not fond of sharing baby either... Here are some of the photo highlights from her birthday party!Enjoying the birthday cake... fistful at a time! (Above); Loving her new baby... (below)
It was only AFTER we hid the baby that Caroline was willing to even have anything at all to do with other presents. Note the baby in the photo of the wrapping paper... she would only pat the paper because she was so worried about her baby. Andrew helped with opening all the presents...
Little dress, tights and shoes from Grandma and Grandpa Pierce, and Aunt Brittany...

We certainly are grateful that Caroline (fondly called "Baby" by LeGrand...) is part of our family! We love her joyful little personality and the happiness that she brings to our home! We wouldn't trade her for ANYTHING!

Margaret's Birthday...

Was at the beginning of the month, but since Caroline is having a birthday this weekend, I thought I'd get Margaret's pictures up before next month!

Margaret had a Strawberry Trifle for her birthday cake, and was so excited to be 5 that she didn't wait for us to finish singing before blowing out the candles.

Fractions and Hearts

Who knew that a nine year old would try to make a PRIME number not Prime? She's trying to figure out how to make 11 divide equally. Or 19. And she's suggested other numbers that she things OUGHT to be Prime... 21 is NOT a prime number. Nor is 18. We're learning that.

I LOVE the learning process.

In other news, Andrew and I suffered a "Heart Attack" last night. With help from the babysitter. We had such notes as, "I'll help you clean this up." and "I love you. Apparently." Those were the ones that the girls told Taylor to write. She's such a good sport! The hearts led up the stairs, and ended up in a large pile on the floor outside our bedroom door. The girls were trying to help Andrew get in the Valentine's mood. I gave Taylor a box of Chocolates. She deserved it after a last minute "Andrew wants to take me to his Basketball Meeting and I need a babysitter can you come?" phone call. I may not let her leave to college this fall. Salt Lake is TOO far to commute for emergency sitting...

The Ball is ROLLING!

The ball is finally rolling on my new business venture: Princesses In Overalls. I got my very first order today (YAY!) after sending out a Facebook Blast and a link to my new business blog. The website isn't fully functional yet, but the blog will be updated regularly, and the website will be up and running by 1 March 2011.

SO... if any of you know little girls, have nieces, or granddaughters who love swirly twirly skirts, please check out the blog at http://princessesinoveralls.blogspot.com and PLEASE pass it on!

And that's what's new in my life!

What I learned about Barbie. Today.

I learned some things about Barbie today as I was listening to my girls play.

1. Barbie's clothes are really immodest. (I already knew that, it was just the first thing they said when seeing new clothes from someone else)
2. Barbie is so cute and adorable. Not words I would have used to describe her, but...
3. Barbie's swimsuit looks suspiciously like some of the dresses actresses wear on the red carpet... low cut in the front, no back and rather long in the leg with a very high slit in the back.....
4. Oh yeah. Back in the day (that would be when I was young) Barbie didn't have thumbs.

And LeGrand loves to play house with the Barbies. He gets Ken out and they pretend. Here's to hoping that Bud gets a brother. Someone to go out and shoot "nuns" with. Someone to play something OTHER than house with. Although he does make a mean pretend pancake!!!

Let it Snow... Let it Snow...

I know it's not much, at least compared to MOST places, but this amount of snow closed schools (not ours, much to Savannah's chagrin), and kept people from going places. It melted by the afternoon, but it certainly was exciting while it lasted.

Since this snow, we've had at least 6 other instances of snow that didn't stick and one tornado that hit 12 miles away from us. I went and got a pizza in the middle of it. I've never been in a tornado before, and just thought it was a fluke of the weather that we had major hail and temperatures 10 degrees colder than the pizza place 3 miles away. Some pretty nasty wind too... Hm. This isn't Kansas, people. It's OREGON. Just like most places, if we don't like the weather we wait 5 minutes. I just thought it was a weather thing. It was. A windy, twisty, destructive weather thing. It was good pizza.

Ralph the Night Hairdresser Visited...

When I was growing up, Ralph the Night Hairdresser came to visit. It was HIS job to cause the creative hairstyles that plagued us in the morning. Caroline's hair is finally long enough for some really good visits from Ralph. This was the first experience of bed head. It's since gotten MUCH better, (meaning the bedhead is more creative - Ralph is doing his job...) just no pictures. Caroline wasn't quite sure what to think of the flashing camera this early in the morning, but she loves to tug on her hair when she's going to sleep. I love that it's curly! (We'll post a picture of the curls after her hair is wet and she hasn't tugged them out...) Of all the children, she stayed the darkest, and her hair is definitely the curliest. This photo was taken about a month ago...

My Christmas Skirts project...

Savannah's Skirt. Complete with Savannah's legs. She loves her skirt because it spins out in a perfect circle.

Margaret's Skirt (one of two...)

Caroline's Skirt... (One of her two) These are some of the skirts that I made for Christmas. I'm still working on some of them, but each of my girls has at least one (Caroline has two...). They make up one of the products of a new on-line business I'm starting that has a goal opening date of March 1, 2011. They're fun to make, and, according to the girls, VERY fun to wear. If it weren't for laundry, my girls would never take them off. Sometimes even with laundry I think my girls will never take them off.