Boston Fenway Has Arrived!!!!!!
Born 9/30/06 @ 633pm via waterbirth w/an amazing midwife (Katie).
Weighing 8lbs 10.9oz and 21 inches long.
I feel empowered and fantastic, I wish all of my births could have been just like this one was. The staff at Jordan Hospital were friendly, caring and supportive of all of my decisions. I cannot begin to rave enough about the power of a waterbirth, and how wonderful the recovery has been because of it. Birthing without my husband was a slightly daunting task, but I did it!
Read MoreUncle Clive
While I was in hospital bringing Boston into the world, Uncle Clive paid a visit to my munchkins. Apparently he has a lap that Santas are made of:
Baby Names
11pm last night
Kate: “So what are we going to call this baby? Boston Fenway, right?”
John: “Boston Thomas Fenway.”
Kate: “Yeah, I know that Thomas was my idea but I really don’t want people thinking we named him after Mayor Menino.”
John: “Yeah, I guess that is a good point.”
Kate: “Since I will probably have to fill out the certificate without you, would you be too upset if we went with Boston Fenway John?”
John: *smiles* “No, I don’t think I would be too upset about that.”
——————————————————————
Leaving for the hospital in a few minutes, I’ll post a birth update when I get back (or give John instructions over the phone.) I reckon this baby will be 8lbs 11oz. What do you think?
Rachel was 6lbs 3oz many weeks early
Julie was 9lbs 30z two days past her “due date”
London was 8lbs 30z nine days past his “due date” (at high altitude)
The person who comes closest gets a prize that Rachel and I will pick out. 
Book Fair
I met Rachel at the book fair at her school today. We picked out a couple of books. Well, I picked out three books and she picked out a troll pen. That child does not know the meaning of “hurry” or “rush.” Within 5 minutes of being at the fair, her classmates had stacks of books picked out and she could not choose anything to save her life. I definitely see her spreading her wings as a free spirit more and more every day. I didn’t start to hurry her along until she had been browsing for 30 minutes. She cracks me up. I think she would have had an easier time of picking out wood chips than choosing some new books.
I also found it really funny that she thought her 15 cents change from lunch was enough to buy herself something at the fair. Can you tell she gets dragged to yard sales and thrift stores, searching out the bargains? That’s my girl.
The book I picked out for Julie ended up ruined in the bath tub. Grrr.
The fair was in the afternoon and I offered Rachel the option of coming home with me (90 minutes early) or staying in school. She couldn’t make up her mind so I threw in the offer of hitting the local bakery on the way home.
She is definitely my daughter – cookies work every time. LOL
I have to be at the hospital at 6am on saturday morning. Tomorrow is a very busy day.
Read MoreStart the tailgating now.
I saw the midwife today and I am 5cm. We got an offer on our house which we countered and they accepted and we are on the verge of securing a new home (Friday!). Life is very stressful around here, Julie has been pretty rough to deal with. I am seriously considering that she might have PDD or something on the mild side of autism (thank god she hasn’t been vaccinated since she was a month old!). Rachel is great, we had her open house last night and was told how sweet she is and how she takes *forever* to get her work done (same exact problem I have with her). London is such a sweetie, even with this cold the three of them have (god bless public school germs). They were miserable earlier so I gave them a small dose of motrin each just to make them comfortable enough to get a good night sleep.
Nothing to exciting to report. I wish we weren’t so stressed out, stress isn’t exactly good for marriages (specifically my marriage). With any luck, I will be having this baby over the weekend. At that point I will have to rename my blog to “Maternity Clothes Free Zone.” I have a huge pile of stuff for my SIL that I cannot wait to unload.
I am so boring.
Read MoreI’m a grown-up?
Seriously, when did that happen? Went to our first “Open House” tonight for Rachel who is in first grade. It went well, I am pretty disturbed by the sheer amount of work they have to do at such a young age. I definitely see burnout in her future. Her teacher was nice, she has been doing this (teaching) for 30 something years. I saw some other Mums I know there and felt like a townie (yet again).
It was very weird being the parent. I’m 7 years into being a mother (if you include the pregnancy) and I still feel like a child.
Read MoreUsually
Usually the stuff that John makes me watch from the internet leaves me watching the time. Not this time, my friends. This. Is. Seriously. Funny.
http://www.freshtribe.com/video/lip_sync_head_bang.aspx
(Don’t give up showing me your lame clips, love).
Read MoreGetting a good deal
To me, there is nothing like the thrill of getting a good deal. Whether the good deal comes from a department store with a seriously reduced clearance price or from a yard sale or thrift store, I enjoy seeing how far twenty dollars can go.
On the rare occasion I can find a shoe sale, I often make out very well because very few women around here have size 11 feet. I had a hard time dealing with my shoe size, until I met my husband. Meet Mr Big Foot at size 15 or 16. Yeah, thats what I’m talking about.
On a more exciting note, my magazine came today from the subscription that John got me for my birthday. Real Simple. – Life Made Easier I can’t wait to read it, anyone else out there a fan? I have been organizing our stuff while living in this little cottage (organization is the *ONLY* way to go in this small place). I don’t feel I am worthy enough of reading the magazine until we have bought more tubs to put more of our stuff in. And yes, I do believe I have OCD.
Everyone has their thing, right? I like to get rid of stuff. I can’t wait to move into our “forever home” and freecycle everything I own. I’m like a dog of Pavlov frothing at the mouth when I think about posting “offer” messages to freecycle. Mmmmm.
Read MoreBlog Logs…
I pulled my web stats tonight and found it *excessively* interesting to see who my top ten visitors are. I recognized 7/10 of them. I, of course, was #1.
If I had a life I probably would have found it less interesting, but lots of fun (regardless).
Read MoreKiddos and more kiddos
London at 11 months is finally cutting his first tooth and I cannot think of a more deserving boy. If you could see him eat.. chicken, pasta, APPLES… this child has earned a mouthful.
Julie is off of dairy and her behavior has somewhat improved. We’re still having a hard time getting her to bed at night without the bloody murder screaming, but we are working on a nighttime routine that seems to be helping.
Rachel is fantastic, she came to the hospital with me yesterday for my non-stress test and had a fun time. The NST was in the birth pool room and she was non-stop asking questions. SHe is going to be Lilo for Halloween and I think I’d like to try and find a “Stitch” costume for the boy.
London and Julie are in a playgroup on Wednesdays and they seemed to really enjoy it. I am going to try and get them in two mornings a week with their Daddy so I can get some work done with Boston in the morning while Rachel is at school.
Boston is going to be a pumpkin for Christmas, it is a family tradition that I started when our “family” was only Rachel and me. Boring but warm…
It feels very comfortable knowing that we won’t be having anymore children as I am really loving the three (and a half) that we have.
Yes, our lives are very boring but I’ll take boring. Any day.
Read MoreBoston (Fenway? Thomas? John? LOL) Update
Baby still happily cooking, very low and ready to go. I went to the hospital today and had a NST as he hasn’t been moving very much and he looked great on the monitors. He is free to bake happily and come out when he is ready. Good job, Boston. We are getting enormous amounts of positive feedback from his name choice from everyone we have told. I go back next week for another check… hopefully I won’t put on so much flippin’ weight this time. 7 pounds in 2 weeks? Are you serious?
And if you were wondering, I won my battle and was allowed to perform the GBS test on myself as opposed to our midwife. What a demeaning test. No thank you very much. Compromise is such a beautiful thing, isn’t it?
I’m 37.5 weeks.
1am…
It is official, I am pregnant. I have been tossing and turning since going to bed earlier and I finally have proof that I am pregnant. LOL I have dealt with restless legs in each of my pregnancies but it has only hit with Boston’s pregnancy in the last few days.
If this is all I have to complain about (which it is), I feel quite grateful to my restless legs.
We had a good weekend. Went to a couple of yard sales and got some amazing deals including a brand new $300 toddler bed (brand new in box for about 90% off) for the kids. Julie has been having a super difficult time with going to, and staying asleep, but we haven’t heard from her since 8pm when I put her to bed in it. Here is a picture of the bed that I shamelessly pillaged from the internet:
I got a Mickey Mouse fabric ottoman and a stunningly fabulous pack n play off of a very nice lady on freecycle that I wouldn’t mind hanging out with again. She has twins that are Julie’s age and a 4/5yo daughter. Her kiddos were running around naked enjoying what was probably the “last hurrah weekend” of the summer.
Speaking of which, we also went to the Hull, MA Endless Summer Festival and saw a ton of familiar faces. I think I might be turning into a wannabe townie.
What else you might ask? There isn’t really much else. I have been snapping some art work up at yard sales (etc) and finally got the stuff to refinish the picture frames. I haven’t actually started the picture frame work, but I’ve got the stuff so I figure I am halfway there. Right? Secretly I am hoping that John will take pity on my good intentions, but so far nothing yet.
London is 11 months and still have no teeth. He can sing and say 10 words (which is amazing for my children) and is trying very hard to stand on his own and even dares to take a step every now and again. Gotta figure out a birthday party for him before it is “too late.”
Julie is off of milk and just about all dairy to see if that will help improve her behavior. She definitely has improved, except for the fact that she *is* 2. She is very picky about her clothing options and will *ONLY*…. wear the color pink. Pink shoes, socks, shirt… etc. Since removing dairy (mainly milk) she has less tantrums, is more patient when London is in her space and is talking much, much more. I can’t wait to see what else goes on in the next week or so as she works on her language, unhidered by what I believe is a milk sensitivity.
Rachel. She rocks. She got some “accessories” while going thrift shopping and thinks she should be wearing all of her accessories. At the same time. I think Stacy and Clinton need to have her on a children’s edition. (Ha ha). She is really helpful with London and Julie and definitely gets spending money (incrementally) for her excessive help.
Without John and Rachel, I wouldn’t last a day alone. I am so blessed to have both of them in my life. Without Rachel, there is no way that John and I would have stuck it out through the “rough road” at the beginning of our relationship. And without John, Rachel and I wouldn’t have all of the joy we have in our lives. I am sure John would say something equally sappy about us, I guess that is what blog comments are for.
5 years this month, baby. I haven’t loved you more.
Read MoreBrag Ahead
My husband and I have a very passionate relationship. When things are good, they are *heavenly*…. books could be written about us. And when things are rocky, it is miserable. Usually we float in the middle, but going down the rocky road tends to happen after a major event (move, new baby…).
My locket, which I wear 24/7, went missing the other day. Rachel likes to give me backrubs and takes my locket off to get better access to my neck (very thorough kid). I found my locket in her room, dented and absolutely ruined (courtesy of one Juliebean). I told John while I was on the phone with him earlier and on his way home from his last customer he stopped and got me a new one.
The number one thing that attracted me to him when we first started dating (after meeting on Yahoo Personals) was how utterly thoughtful he was. It has definitely gotten lost along the way with life, multiple pregnancies and births, moving and our businesses…. but to realize tonight that he still has “it” – was absolutely priceless.
I love you, John. Thank you for making my night.
Read MoreAnd another thing…
For those that keep on telling me that I am “gonna go early.” Shut up. I’m not trying to be rude or bitchy, but my last child was 9 days past his (estimated) due date. I was 3.5 weeks late being born from my Mum and I was her fourth child. I won’t go early. Don’t check on my blog for birth announcements until well after my due date of October 7th.
(For the record, my dear husband John was telling me earlier tonight how he “just knows” that I will go early. That is the same crap he fed me while pregnant with London).
/end of bitchy rant. (LMAO!)
Read MoreIs there anything more beautiful?
I was sitting on the couch tonight before the children went to bed watching my girls, boy and husband dance to Ella Fitzgerald in our living room. There was something so perfect about the moment that I hope I never forget.
In other news today. Well, there is no news. The kids are still fantastic, I am still pregnant and John is still tall (well, he did get a haircut).
Boring.
Boring is good.
This is what I looked like 3 weeks after shaving my head earlier in the year.
This is me now… about 7 months later. My hair grows so damn slow!
TeamRachel aka mrskatvon is both a website to gain public awareness of Juvenile Batten Disease (which affects my oldest daughter) as well as a journal to remember the events in our lives.
Rachel was diagnosed with Batten Disease in July 2009 and while we knew something was "not right" we had no idea that such a nightmarish disease existed. There are dozens of nasty, orphan disease which affect people both very young and old.
Aside from dealing with the changes of Batten Disease in my daughter, Rachel, I have tasked myself with making life memorable for all of my children to make sure that (at least) 3 of them grow up to be as well adjusted and happy as possible.
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