Baby Countdown

The baby countdown has officially begun. Fortunately (I guess) Providence has seen fit to ensure that this child will arrive late, like all my others. What do I mean? Well, first of all, there was all the snow, which postponed midwifery appointments, family departure dates, and caused my husband to spend hours on the tractor plowing for a couple of days. Then there was the awful illness (that I am just now getting over- still have mild cold symptoms.) The excruciating coughing fits didn't start labor, so what will, I ask you?! Plus it got us waylayed on schoolwork and the dreaded task of taking down Christmas decorations. I got behind on corrections, and packing up Christmas stuff got interrupted. One of our work tables in the school room has become semi-permanenetly covered in "piles of Christmas". 

Then everything started hitting the proverbial fan. First off, my husband finally got the offer letter for a job he had been negotiating for months. He accepted promptly and then promptly resigned his current job. After all, in order to give his employers due notice before the arrival of our new baby, he had to act soon. This set off a maelstrom at work. Suddenly he had twice as much to do, plus he had all the prep work for his new job (finding a small/cheap office, writing bios, putting out press releases, joining video conferenced meetings, etc.)

In the midst of this, my garage door broke. Then the new mini-van, which consistently has a low tire, turned up nearly flat. Then the downstairs toilet backed up last Friday, the end of this week from hell. I had 3 inches of water in my bathroom and it took nearly every towel we owned before I could sop up the mess. It's always fun to run up and down the stairs to gather towels, to feverishly try to stem off the flood from the hallway, to move said soaking towels, to dry the floor on your hands and knees with 4 kids in tow... and all at 38 weeks gestation! Nope, that didn't start labor either.

After that episode, I forbid anyone to flush the upstairs toilets, for fear that they would make the downstairs one back up again... in case the clog was in the main sewer line and not the toilet itself. I also refrained from washing laundry or dishes. The next day, my husband tried to "snake" the toilet. But although it seemed to be working at first, he got our old plumbing snake stuck in it... firmly... irretrievably. So he had to take out the old toilet and put in a new toilet. There went all of Saturday. No toilet flushing. No chores like taking trash and recycling to the drop-off center. No carrying boxes of Christmas things to the storage room (because my arms aren't long enough to carry those boxes in front of my belly.) No dishes. No laundry... since Friday.

So Sunday rolled around. After Mass and brunch I let the kids go to the basement to scooter, roller-blade, ride tricycles, play in their under-stair play house, etc. They informed me that water was leaking into the basement. Water? In our basement? In a place it has never come in before? And it wasn't raining? 

It didn't take long to determine that our sewer line was leaking outside the house and the saturated ground was causing some seepage along a few hairline cracks. That caused mild panic. The sewer line runs under the slate-floored screen porch AND under the cement patio! And it runs right next to the giant sandbox that my husband made for the kids last summer... the only thing we got done just for them.

My husband determined that the screen porch foundation was solid still. Phew! He also determined, by opening a "trap", that one of the pipes had settled at a joint right under the screen porch and the pipes no longer meet up as they should. The clog he had pushed through the toilet had gotten stuck at this juncture. So we decided to call the plumber first thing Monday morning.

Of course it was Martin Luther King Jr. day on Monday. I figured that would double our cost. You know, weekend and holiday double-time pay. But in this county, school isn't even off for MLK day, and people don't seem to realize it is a national holiday. I mean, it wasn't even mentioned in our little, local paper! So no worries there... at least, not about plumbing.

We ended up with a good plumber. He was professional, courteous, gave us an estimate on the spot, and promised to come the next day with his equipment. He didn't even say anything about the old toilet sitting in pieces on the patio :) We decided to just cap off the old sewer line and run a new one instead of destroying the porch and patio to fix the old line. He said that he could hand dig the bit next to the sandbox too. We wouldn't have to move it!

So in the mean time we went out and bought a portable camp toilet. And we had yet another day of no dishes or laundry.... or showers or baths. Ugh! And we looked forward to the next day because the plumber had promised that we'd have working toilets by the end of the Tuesday. Yay!

Of course the next day dawned at 9 degrees with a stiff wind. And the plumber had a hard time getting his machinery going. So he and his cohorts didn't show up until about 11:30. I was worried that perhaps this was becoming a 2 day job. My children were thrilled to see a giant back hoe and such, and schooling was suspended for a time so that my kids could get an eye full. My 3 year old was particularly happy, and had the best seat in the house.

Our sandbox was mildly damaged, but we didn't have to move hundreds of pounds of frozen sand and take it apart. Our electric line to the barn was cut, but they repaired it before they left. And now we have a torn up back yard and a lovely ridge of earth that bisects the back yard.

But we still have a screen porch. We still have a patio. The work came in at $200 less than the estimate. And the plumbers finished putting in the sewer line by the end of the day Tuesday, as promised. We flushed all the toilets with abandon. We bathed our grubby selves. And we began to dig out from the piles of dishes and laundry that we had been accumulating for 5 days. 6 people times 5 days worth of laundry and dishes equals- Yowza! And then of course there's the backed up school work, and the heaps of Christmas, and the accumulated trash and recyclables that were still waiting. Sigh.

I'm just glad that I didn't go into labor when plumbers were stomping through the house in their muddy boots and a back hoe was growling outside the window! But I'm still unsettled. My dear one is working his bum off for long hours every day and is really preoccupied. He had a big event Tuesday night and Wednesday, and had to be out of town to boot. He's getting people up to speed, wrapping up loose ends, fighting off power grabs and political battles, etc. (Essentially he's doubled his work load.) He's also getting the ball rolling on the new job, as I mentioned earlier.

So now it's the weekend again. We're still behind on stuff. And my son has a birthday. And my husband has Saturday night deadlines. And I'm feeling, as I said, unsettled. No one is ready for this baby. I'm the only one who has prepared. But I don't feel settled.

I continue to meet with the doctor and midwife. And I feel nervous every time I take my girls to choir or make a grocery run to the co-op (both 45 minutes away) because my past few labors have been intense and brief once my water breaks. "What if labor starts now?" I keep asking myself. And so far the answer has always been scary.

So last night I woke up 3 times in the midst of gagging and on the verge of vomiting. The third time I was in the bathroom for a good long time with coughing and dry heaves having a hard time breathing. Was it pre-labor stuff? Are my hormones kicking into high gear? Or is the tail end of my sinus stuff causing that due to drainage when I lie down? Or am I just waking up at night with anxiety attacks or something? Vomiting has never been a pre-labor sign for me before.

And tonight (TMI warning) I have diarrhea inexplicably. This is also a standard pre-labor sign (although again, one I've never had before.) Yugh. Did I mention my man working until late hours every night and the deadline he has tomorrow? Or the birthday of my older boy? So anyway, I'm hoping that if stress hasn't induced an "early" labor, that it will postpone labor until our lives feel a little more sane again.  

Christmas

Advent was a blur. We started off with the girls' stomach illness, which didn't help. And we did the usual Advent wreath, purple lights, stockings on St. Nicholas Day, Choir concert, saint's days commemoration, shopping, giving tree, etc. Plus, my husband and oldest son managed to engineer and construct a HUGE light up star on the barn. It took all 6 of us and a giant extension ladder to hang it. The picture gives you an idea of the scale. It's more impressive lit and seen from the road a quarter mile away, but this is the only shot I captured.

My parents and sister came a few days before Christmas. We weren't quite done with decorating the house when they arrived because we're an old fashioned family, and cut a tree and deck the halls only a few days before Christmas. We don't even decorate the tree until Christmas Eve. But they didn't seem to mind. And we had a nice, quiet Christmas. Well, my 3 year old is loud, and my oldest was busy turning pan lids into drums, acoustic guitar strings into an electric guitar, quarters into computer mice, and play dough into keyboards, etc. with his new Makey Makey that he got for Christmas. (A modified Arduino.) But you know what I mean.

Speaking of trees, we got some snow the Friday before Christmas, so after my husband fixed the alternator in the truck (sigh) we headed to the tree farm that we used to go to before we moved here. For probably 12 years, we went to the same tree farm, and we were feeling the need for some continuity and tradition this year. Unfortunately, between the droughts, the flood, and the lateness in the year, there were no trees of the proper size to cut! We were SO disappointed. We settled for one they had in the barn pre-cut. It was the first time in probably 14 years that we hadn't cut our own tree, so it was sad! But we still got to talk to the owner, who remembered us (my husband by name!) He even remembered our veggie oil truck. And the kids got free cider and popcorn, so it wasn't a total bust. And it will make going to the "new tree farm" easier next year.

Right after Christmas we got more snow. The roads were so bad that my family stayed an extra day or two. My husband learned the fine art of plowing with our tractor attachment and spent hours clearing the long gravel drive. My kids played in the snow as much as they could, but with me unable to fit into my boots or button my coat, my husband busy on the plow, and my family here with no snow gear, it didn't happen as much as they would have liked. After all, I couldn't keep in the 3 year old and let the bigger kids go out. And I couldn't quite trust them with his care in the cold with all the distractions. But they still managed to make a snow house in a big snow bank with our neighbor's girl, and a 6 foot tall snowman.

My husband's family arrived the same day that my family left. So I was definitely busy. We managed to outfit my sister-in-law with snow gear, and she and my nephew took the kids out to play in the snow some more. They made a snow bear and romped around. It snowed several times over the next few days, a rarity for our locality, and we ended up with about 18 inches on the ground!

I think my in-laws had a nice visit. After they left, we tore down extra beds and began laundering linens and dealing with the aftermath of back-to-back family visits.  But the next night we were hit with a very nasty flu bug that my littlest nephew brought, so much of our snow play time was wasted. The little guy had been sick all Christmas week. And although he was fever free by the time his parents brought him, he still had coughing, sneezing, and a terribly runny nose. Since he was playing with the kids' toys and hanging out in the house, we inevitably got his ick, despite my wiping door knobs and whatnot.

Of course my 3 year old turned up with it first. Nasty high fevers were a part of the illness. My girls both got fevers well over 104 despite fever reducers, and had to be sponged in tepid baths. It was most unpleasant. And then finally, after all the kids had been sick for a week, I got the dreaded bug. Fevers are scary things to pregnant women. The sinus congestion and sneezing were also unpleasant. (I felt like something was going to shoot out of my belly button when a sneezed!) But the coughing fits were the worst! Hacking, gagging, cough-for-5-minutes-straight fits had me so sore and miserable! I think I got stretch marks from coughing! And then there was the weirdness of a persistent low-grade fever, which I had the 2nd week of the illness, along with the continued coughing.

So that was Christmas... mad dash up to it... Busy, busy Christmas week... Everybody sick for 2 weeks after that. And me just wrapping up the last of the cold symptoms this week! Phew!

Thanksgiving

At the last minute, we ended up hosting my husband's family for Thanksgiving this year. I was too busy cooking and hosting to take many pictures, but here's an idea of what our table looked like. Our Thanksgivings always include Turkey Notes, cranberry relish, all the usuals (like green bean casserole, corn bake, loaded mashed potatoes and gravy, candied sweet potatoes, bread dressing, warmed spiced apple sauce, baked beans, a vegetable tray, a pickle tray, and LOTS of pies.) 

Pies are really what Thanksgiving is all about to me... after the turkey, of course! We usually have apple, pecan, cherry, pumpkin, vanilla cream, and chocolate cream pies. I've made an apple sauce pie once or twice and a sugar cream pie too. This year I only made one pie, and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law brought pies. It felt wrong, but my husband convinced me that being pregnant and cooking the rest of the meal and so forth was enough work.

My family can thank my mother for the pie tradition. She always served lots of pies (several of each kind) and frequently took special requests for pies from extended family members. (We always had large, extended family gatherings for Thanksgiving, often inviting those who had no one else to celebrate with, like an imbalanced lady named Frances who was pretty much an honorary family member.) Unlike me, my mom usually made minced meat pie. I don't think in all those years I had the courage to try it. The name was too daunting. I think she also made a cashew pie and a peanut pie at least once. That gives you an idea of the special requests she received. 

One thing my family always served when I was growing up that I have only pulled off once was "chicken and noodles." We'd make home made ribbon noodles and serve them in a homemade chicken gravy with pieces of chicken mixed in. How I loved those extra thick noodles! Maybe I can pull them off next year. 

My kids like to decorate for Thanksgiving. We have a cornucopia window cling that can be assembled in many ways. They take turns putting up. And we have a ceramic turkey my mother-in-law made. They like to have fancily folded napkins or to make napkin rings too. This year, my oldest son made some out of craft foam that were decorated with lovely leaf shapes. It was his idea and he executed the whole project himself. They worked flawlessly. My oldest daughter wanted to make a centerpiece, but our table was so long and her bouquet so fragile that we ended up putting her creation on a side cupboard. She gathered berries, dried seed heads, leaves and branches to make the arrangement to the right. Together they both strung pine cones that they collected from the light fixture in a sort of fall chandelier. Their original scheme was better than what we had to settle for, but the lights were too hot to have string hanging as close to them as they had planned.

Although Thanksgiving went off without a hitch, the aftermath wasn't fun. My girls both turned up with a terrible stomach virus back-to-back once the visitors left, and vomited and ran fevers. The clean-up was unpleasant, especially with the pregnant belly impeding maneuvers. And the fear of everyone getting the ick was no fun to deal with either. Surprisingly no one else contracted the projectile hurling, although my oldest boy refused to eat for several days and said his stomach hurt. I'm thankful that I didn't get ill, as throwing up with a huge belly is quite difficult and painful. Plus I got to enjoy turkey tetrazzini. MMMM.  

All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day

It's been over a month since my last post, so there are probably not too many folks out there still reading my blog. C'est la vie. We've been running ourselves ragged, and blogging is definitely an extra and a luxury that necessarily got put on the back burner. Since I'm probably down to a few devoted followers, here's a much belated post for you concerning All Saints Day, a Roman Catholic feast Day on November 1st. I'm sure you won't mind. 

My husband was out of town for work (surprise!) for All Hallows Eve (Halloween) and All Saints Day this year. And I couldn't pull off attending the All Saint's Day costume party that involved Mass, candy, games, and a pitch-in Dinner with the local Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. Below are some pictures of a few of my kids' costumes from previous years (in no particular order.)

My oldest as St. John Vianney and my second oldest as St. Gianna Beretta Molla

In this picture, my oldest boy is St. Don Bosco, my oldest girl is St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and my youngest girl is St Michael the Archangel (although her wings and sword aren't really visible in this pic. 

My oldest girl as St Kateri Tekakwitha

My oldest boy as St. Martin of Tours

This is my oldest daughter again, but at a much younger age... 3 maybe? In this picture she is St Katherine Drexel, of whom she was very fond at the time. She's holding an arrow head in her right hand.

My pumpkin from last year

I managed to pull off some pumpkin carving with 4 kids this year though. (That's no small feat, I assure you, especially with a giant, pregnant belly impeding pumpkin scraping!) We don't do jack-o-lanterns, but rather, for lack of a better term, saint-o-lanterns. We've kept the theme loosely religious and just followed our kids' lead. Here are some saint-o-lanterns from previous years. 

a pumpkin my sister carved when visiting

my oldest's take on symbolism for the sacrament
of Baptism (a few years ago)

marian symbol and the sacred and
immaculate hearts (oldest)

my oldest's again

a church and a monstrance

wheat, the Sacred heart

My husband was on a business trip for All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day last year too. So I didn't get out to purchase pumpkins in time. Instead we improvised and made luminaria out of paper grocery sacks. I had the little kids use stencils so that they could trace on a folded, flat bag. Then they cut out their images with safety scissors. It was actually a lot more kid friendly than pumpkins in some ways. And we even used some hole punchers and scalloped scissors. They had lots of potential! Here's what they looked like.

my youngest daughter's

my oldest daughter's (Eucharistic)

mine

my oldest son's (tabernacle)

My oldest son's

This year we pulled off pumpkins AND a themed dinner. 

First the pumpkins...

My dove with an olive branch and my youngest son's 

my youngest daughter's musical notes for St. Cecilia
and my oldest daughter's rosary.

We use the serrated, specially made for carving pumpkins, cut-proof little tools and scrapers that are sold seasonally. (My son is holding one in the picture below.) For the rosary beads, my daughter used an apple corer. In the past we've also used cork screws, potato peelers, and other kitchen utensils. Peeling off the skin or scraping parts of the pumpkin very thin can produce nice results.

If you want to make saint-o-lanterns, be creative. Think about ease of use and safety. And if you are doing this with a large family or lots of little kids, I suggest that you consider cutting lids and scraping out the insides of the pumpkins the night before without any kids about. (Or better yet, if you're lucky enough, assign a teenager this task!) This will streamline the process and will make the carving more fun and frustration free for impatient, small children. 

Here are some more tips. When cleaning the pumpkins, start by spreading brown paper bags or garbage bags on the table top. Dried pumpkin is like cement, and it dries quickly in a heated house. You can wad up the paper sacks when you are finished and throw everything in the compost pile. Or you can wad up the garbage bags and dump them into the wastebasket. (I don't recommend newspapers, as the printing rubs off and makes a mess, not to mention that you don't want to compost all that icky ink.) You'll also want some large bowls for piling the seeds, stringy pumpkin slime, and pumpkin chunks in.  

When you cut those lids, cut at an angle so that the lid does not fall in as the pumpkin dries and shrinks.  Also, remember to leave a little vent hole to let the heat and smoke out if you are using candles. 

When you scrape out pumpkin innards, be sure to wear short sleeves and aprons. Large spoons like ice cream scoops (especially the simple plastic kind) work great. Try to avoid metals that may bend, like aluminum, or your serving spoons may end up warped. The specialized pumpkin carving tools often come with scrapers (like the one my son is holding in this picture) that work well too. 

To draw your patterns on the pumpkins you can use water-based markers, like those designed for overhead projectors. (Yes, I am dating myself with that comment!) When you want to change something you can simply wipe it with a damp paper towel. And if your cuts stray from your intended line, you can wipe the line off, and no one will know. In fact, a roll of paper towels on the table is a good idea for messy hands too! 

To illuminate your creations, I suggest tea light votives in the metal cups for pumpkins, and battery operated votives if you opt to make luminaria. 

Now for the FOOD! At the last minute this year, I made a run to the local grocery store and bought some unusual (for us) mostly prepared food items to make a themed "meal". It was really a lot of snacks and finger foods rather than a meal, which my kids loved. And the food items could definitely be better, given more forethought and a larger grocery store!  Here's what I threw together...

St Bernadette's firewood
(pretzel sticks)

St. Pio's' stigmata
(sandwiches made with whole wheat bread cut into a
foot shape with a cookie cutter and pierced with a
straw to make the nail mark- the filling is peanut
butter topped with raspberry jam.)

St. Cecilia's keyboard

St Andrew's catch
(goldfish crackers)

St Francis' animals
(animal cookies)

Saint Ambrose's "Honey-Tongued
Doctor" dip

St John's Seven Trumpets of Revelation
(Bugles)

All Hallows Halos
(a cored apple cut into thin slices)

Some red drink could be the blood of a sainted martyr. Or milk could be St. Bridget's cows' milk. The possibilities are endless!