Who Does She Look Like?

People often ask me who Danielle looks like the most.  They mean James or I, of course.  But look:

Danielle 4 months

Sam at 4 months

She looks most like her doting big brother!

The Best Thing About Homeschooling

My 2 favorite things about homeschooling:

1.  It works--the kid can learn a LOT, fast.

2.  I have a lot more time to spend with my kid.

Sam's favorite 2 things about homeschooling:

 

1.  Recess between every subject, and

 

2.  There is no penalty for excessive celebration. 

He likes to do a happy dance every time he gets 100%.

It Happens...

What is this lovely hardware doing on the floor of our bathroom?

Just ask Adam.
"How come TOWELS get to hang on these, and I don't?"

Someday I will tease him about this.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Danielle and I have a lot in common...

Blue eyes...

Double chins/chubby cheeks AND


We are in love with the guy behind the camera.

P.S. I hope she doesn't get my konk.

"Awesome"

I just love the way Adam says "awesome" like he is a teenage surfer dude instead of a 4 year-old kid. You have to listen carefully because he was feeling camera shy.

By the way, I think he got all the information about these guys from a book.

We don't watch this show.

With the killing...and the violence...and being a preschooler and all.

Let's Put This One in the "Tragedy" Column...

Here's the thing. I can sing. I mean, I've got a decent set of pipes and my parents forked out dough for four years of private voice instruction. I've even sung in LDS General Conference and the General Relief Society meeting and everything. And MAN, you should hear me in the shower...just like Gloria Gaynor, almost. So surely, SURELY it should be no big deal to sing in front of a few ladies for a Relief Society board meeting. Cake, right? WRONG. Depite all my preparation and prayers, I avoid singing solos at all cost. Scares the dickens out of me and alters my voice beyond recognition. Duets baby! Or better yet, a double quartet.

So why did I say 'yes' when they asked me?

I am 32. That 's old enough to leave basically all my inhibitions behind me (and I didn't have very many to start with). I thought I was old enough to move past this ridiculous fear of solo singing, and what could be less threatening than a relief society meeting? What's the worst that could happen, right? Well I'll tell you...

You could be standing there starting to sing and have a noise like a migrating Canadian Goose come out of your throat. Your normally pleasing, gentle vibrato could morph into the affectations of an extremely old woman--who is being ELECTROCUTED. At times your voice might actually resemble the plaintive calls of a newly born GOAT. And even then it could get worse...

You could start blubbering.

You could start squeaking as tears come out and grimaces seize the muscles of your face.

You could start staring at the ceiling and try to think of anything other than singing about Jesus Christ, and then start seeing spots.

The entire piece could be recreated using only the words "honk, and blubber" and have it not sound very different from the original.

And then, when the public humilation phase of the horribleness was over, and you were in the bathroom, crying in earnest this time because you feel so ashamed, and everyone, EVERYONE who heard you "sing" might come and tell you what a fabulous job you did.

And in their over-eagerness to make you feel a little better about it all, they might stumble over themselves and ask you to sing the same piece on Thursday at the Relief Society meeting formerly known as "Enrichment."

And in your eagerness to end the conversation, you might accidentally say "yes."

Bubbly

I am a Mormon. We don't drink alcoholic stuff...

But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy a little bubbly now and then.

P.S. This is what happens when a 4 year-old starts learning to pour his own shampoo. Gotta love it.

Sneaky

Notice anything unusual about my freezer?

Possibly the 80 superdoughnuts plus, & the 80 breakfast bars?
*****

Remember that I have a super skinny child, Joseph. Said child likes these doughnuts & breakfast bars that are part of public school breakfasts. They are chock full of vitamins, made with whole wheat flour, and infused with protein and fiber... all my favorite things. They are fattening, but in this case, that's a plus. The only problem is that they are not sold in stores! You can't get 'em, so don't even try! They are only made for the schools. So I went to a school and bought a case of each. (Did you know you can do that?) It was like my own personal Costco, and parking was a dream! No lines! Now I feel so darn sneaky...and today Joey weighed 41.2 pounds. That's the first time he's cracked 40. Life is good.

Grow, Joey grow!

P.S. 4 Year-old Adam weighs 42 pounds.

Dolled Up

I never played with dolls as a child. Too girly. But I'm making up for it all now! I feel the need to dress up Danielle over and over and find matching accessories etc. etc. Poor thing. Here are some of my favorite outfits:

4 Days old in her birthday suit. Sweet!

One month old in the bathtub. Okay, so it's not an outfit, but I like to see how she changed over time. Look at that lil' belly!

Six weeks old and looking pretty.

Seven weeks old and hangin' out.

3 Months old and getting glitter everywhere from this little number.

Today I thought she looked especially fetching. Salmon instead of pink, what a relief!

I made matching bracelets for us. You see what she has to put up with?!

But she doesn't seem to mind.

Happy Halloween!

Are you wondering how our Halloween went?

***

Pumpkin seeds were baked and eaten....

Jack 'o Lanterns were carved...

Jengo Fet and Bobo Fet "shared" a baby (they both wanted to hold her, so I said one could hold her and the other one read to her)

Costumes were worn...

(He is a clone who can't find his helmet)

Han Solo made an appearance...

Another holiday was successfully executed!

Game Face

I see this face every single day. This is Sam's game face.

The game, of course, is chess.

The following is an actual transcript of...well, every single day.

*****

Sam: Can we play chess now, Mom? I'm all done with my school work.

Me: Uhhhhh...

Sam: You promised!

Me: Okay, but just so you know, I am going to win! You're going down!

Sam: [Game Face]

Then, as often as not, he proceeds to beat me at chess.

Unquiet

Danielle hardly ever cries, but that doesn't mean she's quiet.

Warning, there are about 10 seconds of fussiness. Don't let them deter you.

She loves to make these sounds when I take her shopping. Then people throughout the whole store think that Mariah Carey is somewhere close by...and being jabbed with a red-hot poker.

Talented...

Adam is talented. He is a lego master.

He makes very complicated "creations." They are always perfectly symmentrical.

He explains the function of each of the parts: shooters, jets, and machinery nonsense words like "the motranator." He looks at me as if I have a very tiny brain.


He has been making these humongous things since he was very little. He was three when he made this one. Symmetrical...and bigger than him. Just the way a battleship should be.

Trouble

I am in trouble. I have received threatening calls, guilts trips, bad karma, and severe looks...

All because it took me so long to post this:

...so cute in pink and brown...

and this:

Danielle was blessed in this vintage blessing dress that was hand-stitched by Bubby (maternal grandmother). I wanted to do a big photo shoot with her in it, but her little arms were so deliciously plump that the dress almost didn't fit. I had to take it off right after the blessing because I thought it might cut off the circulation to her hands.

More atoning to follow. I am much too tired to fight the computer just now by adding new images, which violates some intergalactic cyber code...apparently.

Lovely Little Girl

We had these pictures taken when Danielle was just six days old...seems like a long time ago already. She's changing so fast.

Look at those little baby wrinkles on her back! She looks like a little sharpei puppy!

It takes many kisses to raise a child...

James' hand is on the bottom, mine on the top. This is probably my favorite.


She's posing so well, no?

This is the one that shows what she looks like the best, I think.
The funny thing about this picture is how pink she looks compared to my skin, and how tan she looks next to James' skin. Is it an optical illusion?

I made these bracelets for us the night before I went into the hospital to have her. Everyone who saw it was sure that the one for Danielle was going to be too small. It's about the right size for my thumb! But it fit her perfectly.

Danielle's Exciting Birth!

Just barely born, and already beautiful.

Danielle Elizabeth Winzenz

Born July 3rd at 12:12 am

7 lbs. 8 oz.

She's got that "newborn smell."

Plus she has this ultrasoft peach fuzz that is really fun to kiss.

She's here! All the waiting, the grumping, the swelling, and stretching is over. I am no longer a pregnant woman. Now I am just a blissful, but slightly dazed mommy of a precious little girl.

Isn't she beautiful? To me she seems to be the most lovely thing in the entire world.

Her debut into this world was an exciting one. Would you like to hear the story? Warning, it is graphic:

It started off as a very boooooring day. I'd been waiting and waiting to go into labor for the last couple weeks. Several times I had felt like I WAS in labor, only to have it all stop and go back to waiting. But July 2nd I checked myself into the hospital with the firm resolve that I was NOT leaving without this baby! The Doctors' plan was to flip her, if she was still breech (she moved around a LOT), and then induce me right away so she wouldn't have a chance to flip into the wrong position again. But, as luck would have it she was already in the right position so we got to skip right to the induction.

I wanted as a natural a birth as possible. I asked them to just break my water and I promised I'd get her outta there in just a few hours. I pleaded. I persuaded. But what actually happened was that they put me on a slow pitocin drip for what felt like eternity--14 hours. The contractions never got all that hard or uncomfortable. James and I just laid around in the hospital room watching TV and reading books. I wanted things to get going! Something had to happen! I kept thinking that if only my water would just break...I KNOW things would get moving then. So when I felt a rush of fluid that soaked my bed to my knees, my first reaction was joy. Hooray! My water finally broke--let's get this show on the road! But when I looked under the covers, all I saw was a sea of bright red blood. Oh gross.

I knew from the amount of blood that I saw that it was a dangerous situation, especially for Danielle. So I took the little button to call the nurse and *doink, doink, doink* hit it continuously until the nurse came in. Luckily she was close by and came right in.

"There's a lot of blood coming out." I said calmly. I am always so dead-pan when faced with emergency. She started to explain about bloody show until I threw back the covers. She stopped mid-sentence and gasped. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but suddenly there were about 8 medical personel in the room. The doctor, who I KNEW was not available, because another lady she was treating was practically crowning, came in and told me that I was going to have a C section...right NOW! All the people in there had a job to do, and they were all asking me questions about allergies and drug reactions etc. etc. but the only one I really paid attention to was my nurse, who was having a hard time finding the baby's heart beat. That was the most frightening moment for me.

Within a minute or two of the appearance of the magically apparating medical personel, I was wisked in my bed down the hall towards the Operating Room. Every time I squirmed or moved in any way, I felt another disconcerting gush of fluid from between my legs. Yeag, I'm getting nauseated from reading my own entry. Sorry people.

I started to pray. I prayed for Danielle over and over until the moment I heard her first cry. Then I started to pray that, if possible, I would like to not die too. :) How dramatic of me.

I was given 2 shots in the back to numb me up. It was much faster than an epidural, and strange too, because it didn't keep me from feeling anything, I just couldn't feel pain. The doctor poked me twice and asked if it hurt. I said it just felt like she touched me. "Okay, let's go."

The next 3 min. were very strange. It felt like the doctors were tugging, pulling, pushing, and overall just arm-wrestling on my tummy over who got to make the first incision. And then she was out! Danielle announced her healthy, strapping presence with a hearty, high-pitched squall. How DARE we pull her out like that with no warning whatever?! I've never heard anything so beautiful in my life. And she was gorgeous, too. Even covered all over with the waxy stuff and blood, I couldn't take my eyes off her. What a lovely round head and perfect features!

The doctors spent the next hour or so finishing up with the procedure--making a little Lybi barbeque by the smell of it. And then it was over. Within an hour I could move my legs. So what can I say about this delivery? I was LUCKY! I had a pretty serious placental abruption (placenta pulled away from the wall of the uterus), and I just happened to be just meters from an O.R. when it happened. If I HAD gone into labor on my own at home 9as I had been fervently praying to do) and had this problem, I would have had a 15 min. drive to the hospital, during which I probably would have bled within inches of my own life, not to mention Danielle's. As it is, I lost 3 pints of blood in about 10 min. (most people have about 7 total). My hematocrit count before labor was 37, afterwards it was 21. My hemoglobin count before was 13, now it is 7. But since I have felt pretty good and haven't fainted at all or anything, I didn't even need a blood transfusion. Yea...

My overall take on the delivery is that it was absolutely optimal given the obstacle of the abruption. I am fine (although I am pale and weak) Danielle is great--life is good. I feel like I was prepared for this unusual delivery by some promptings that things were not going to go smoothly during delivery. In fact, this is why I made James significantly increase my life insurance at the beginning of the pregnancy. Did I almost die? Nah. But this COULD have been the end of Lybi if I hadn't been in exactly the right place at the right time. Do you belive in miracles? I do.

Milestones

We have had some pretty big steps taken by young men in our household recently!

(Anything in the last 2 months is recently to me.)

Sam got braces.

It is not that we are freaking out about the aesthetics of his merely 8 year-old smile, it is that he had a pretty bad cross bite that needed braces, in addition to a palate expander. He's been very stalwart about the braces. They're no prob! The palate expander, on the other hand, has us all longing for ear plugs at the dinner stable...er, table. *Ssssshllurp!*

Joey lost his first regularly-scheduled tooth.

He is eating gingerly these days, with 2 more wiggly teeth getting ready to launch.

Adam learned to pee into an empty water-bottle.

It was an emergency...a DIRE emergency. We were STUCK in a traffic jam, surrounding by witnesses, and the pitch of his whimpering warned me that we only had about 30 more seconds to disaster. What was a mommy to do? He didn't spill one drop--what a champ!

No mommy could be more proud.

Be sure to expand this picture, because it's a great one.

Check out the massive cuteness:

We got new suits for the boys, and I thought they were sooo GQ!

These guys are my personal armed bodyguards.

"Lybi's Angels"

How could any woman not feel like a princess walking into church with so many dashing excorts?