Dominic

Early this morning, Dominic Peter was born at our home with our fabulous midwife and her 2 assistants attending the water birth.  As lightning lit the sky outside, Bill held my hands and I eased our 8 lb baby into the world.  When we finally looked, we were surprised to find out we had a 6th boy.  For some reason, all of us excpected a girl and have been referring to him as "her" for months. 

Today Bill, Dominic and I have been resting.  The kids spent last night and today with friends and were ecstatic to come home and see their new brother. 
We have lots of pictures to post but until I can post them, Dominic has dark brown hair, brown eyes, and very pink skin.  We haven't decided who he looks like yet.  Thank you everyone who has been praying for us!

Father's Day Wisdom

It seems like most dads have words of wisdom that their kids remember forever.

These poor losers got stuck walking with Mom
while Dad took the big kids on a 6 mile bike ride.

One of Bill's favorite's is "C'est la guerre."  which he has translated into English for the kids.

Looking at a dragonfly

Recently, Charles was whining about something and Bill said, "You know what the French say, Charles."

Maria had time to pose as she was ahead of the other bikers.

Charles sighed and said, "Yes, they say 'Man up.'"

Bill and Thomas came next, and I missed Anthony.

Bill said, "Yes, but they also say, "I don't care.'"

Charles looked at me in surprise and asked, "Do they really say that?" We don't say that in our family.

"Yep," I said, "They just say it in a snotty French accent."

Looking at minnows and water bugs

  The rest of dinner was spent with people trying to say, "I don't care" in bad French accents.  :)

Bill says he does not have a copyright on these little gems, so you may use them as you please. 

And a trip to Dairy Queen.  What more could you ask for?

Hoping for a miraculous intervention

After one rosary failed to open the bathroom door,
Joseph opts for a second rosary and a skewer.

Joseph is 3

Joseph's birthday is in April so this is only 2 months late.  :)

Joseph is an avid cyclist...as long as Mom provides the leg power.

He loves to wear goggles, often to bed.

He's determined to do what he sees the big kids doing.
Also, I think he may be a southpaw.

This is his exasperated face.  He is probably exasperated that he
only got a one layer  birthday cake.  But he doesn't need 2 layers, does he?
He also has a "funny face" that he likes to shoot at the priest during Mass.

He loves being the center of attention.  

Joseph is planning to add varsity tennis to his schedule soon.

On his 3rd birthday a light seemed to turn on inside Joseph.  He suddenly became eloquent, independent and ready to potty train.  He has always been very close to James, his best friend, but he is starting to assert his independence with a loud, "STOP IT JAMES!" multiple times a day.  He is very excited about the baby and argued with the midwife about whether it was a boy or a girl.  He does not mind peeling away my many modesty layers over my baby belly so he can kiss her.  I do.  And, he has introduced a new word to the English vocabulary, "puggins".

Now you too know what the orange balls on power lines are called.

I'm 38!

Alright, I've been 38 for several weeks now, but now I'm both 38 years and 38 weeks pregnant.  I've been promising the kids to catch up on the April birthdays before the baby comes so I'm going to just do a quick one for mine.  For my birthday Bill and the kids gave me this lemon tree so I could try to grow lemons indoors.  Watering, humidifying, pot hunting, and pollinating have all taken on a level of obsession.  My parents gave me a label maker which has fulfilled a lifelong dream:  I am labeling all the light-switches in the house.  Apparently, this sickness is contagious because everyone else wants to use my label maker too.

If it looks like I'm snarling, it's because I had to tell my photographer
multiple times to warn me before he took the picture.  This is # 53, I think.

At present, I am not exercising, except for patience.  The midwife tells me the baby can come any time, but she is out of town until tomorrow night, so I've decided not to have a baby today or tomorrow.  Our school year is done and almost in the mail, so I'm looking forward to a long summer with a new little one to keep me company when I get lonely.

Easter!

Charles had to narrate the Tortoise and the Hare to me for an end of the year evaluation for Mother of Divine Grace School.  First I read him a very simple version of the story, only about 10 lines long.  This is what he "retold" to me immediately after.  

One day a hare said to a tortoise, "You are so slow.  I think I could beat you in a race on Sunday."  So on Sunday the hare and the tortoise went to Mass with their families.  When they got home, there was a letter from the judge asking them to meet him at 2 o'clock in the woods.

So when they got there at 2 o'clock, the judge was there with a lot of other animals.  So they began the race.  And the hare went faster, and they were trying to go for the biggest tree and back.  And the rabbit got to the biggest tree, and he was tired.  And then he ate his lunch, drank some water and went to sleep.



Thirty minutes later the tortoise arrived, and he did not disturb the rabbit so he could win the race.  So he started back and then the race had only 30 minutes to go on for. So the tortoise did a little bit faster so he could be there earlier.  When he got there, the rabbit was behind him, and the judge said, "Slow and steady wins the race."  And he got the first place cup, and then they went home.

The End.

Maternity Fashion Show

I had to do a quick rave about this awesome maternity skirt pattern I found:  Florinda Maternity skirt.

It is a simple A-line skirt which can be made with a panel, elasticized, or yoga waist. You can add a ruffle if you are the flirty, romantic type.  You can make it from fabrics that look more tailored if you are the more up-tight type, like me.  You can make it long.  You can make it short.  You can make it a slip.  Or you can buy everything and mail it to you mom like I did.  I LOVE my mom.

This is my current everyday favorite.  It is 3 layers of a gauze material over lining and has a serged hem.  Unfortunately, it shrunk a lot when I washed it, so I had to tug and iron it to make it approach what it used to be, and I think I'll still have to fix the lining.  It has a plain elastic waist (hitting right where my top stops in the pic).  Because I have this crazy gravity-defying belly, I wear a belly band just to cover my stomach. 

This is my fabulous Easter skirt.  I LOVE it.  I save it for Sundays, and since it also has a plain elastic waistband, I'll be able to wear it after the baby comes. 

This was my mom's first try.  Absolutely fabulous.
Until Fall ended and it was too hot to wear corduroy.  Sigh.  Maybe I'll get pregnant again.  

This was my one attempt, before I sent the pattern to my mom.
I wanted it to be longer that the top of my boots but cut it wrong.
If I pull it down far enough to sit where I want it to be, the panel shows beneath my shirt.  

I also have a khaki tencel twill one that I wear to American Heritage Girls.  I think it must be in the wash.  Tencel twill is more flowy than a typical twill and has a pretty sheen.  I like it.

Excuse me? You wanted to see my face? And an entire outfit? If I find my cheekbones again and a shirt that fits, I might consider it.