Jamie takes a stand

So, I'm not exactly a committed feminist. And I don't often take a stand--I like to think it's just my middle-child-peacekeeper nature. But can we just talk about prodromal contractions for a minute? (I didn't know that phrase before now. I had to look it up.) You know, those slightly uncomfortable contractions that start at some point during pregnancy but aren't real labor?

Women have been experiencing them, assumably, since the beginning of time. They've been describing them to each other and their midwives or doctors for thousands of years. Older or experienced mothers have coached and mentored new mothers on the symptoms and meanings.

Then in 1872, Dr. John Braxton Hicks what, like, discovered them and now they're named after him? C'mon now, that's just annoying, right? Around these parts, we've taken to calling them "girl power contractions," dang it! I'm hoping it catches on.

Annie, age 7

How do you feel about being seven?  

I don't know, I feel bigger and I just feel more powerful for some reason! 

What kinds of new things do seven-year-olds do?   
Say more words, like...[whispers in my ear] butt, as long as the little kids aren't around. 

What are you most excited about for the next year?
I'm excited to go into second grade and learn a little bit of cursive at the end. I'm excited that my mom is having a baby next month!

Who is your best friend?

I don't know. Colin's Avery's brother and Colin is DJ's best friend and Avery is Nellie's best friend, so I don't really have many friends. My cousins are my friends, and girls at school. Adrienne, Charlotte (she's new) and she's allergic to gluten, I think. Also fireflies are my friends! Sometimes I catch them and they don't want to leave me! Makenna, Leila even though she moved to Tennessee. 

Who are your favorite people to play with?
Nellie and DJ because sometimes when I'm just with Eddie there's nothing to do!

What kinds of things are you good at?

I'm good at jumping into the lake and pools now! I can swim pretty good now, and it just feels like I'm growing 10,000 feet every day! I'm good at gymnastics and monkey bars. I'm a good cook. I pick out pretty good outfits.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be a doctor, like when I grow up and blood doesn't look so bad to me and cuts don't scare me, I want to be the doctor who helps when babies are born. I want to be a pediatrician. I also want to drive a car and have my own keys and stuff.

Why do you want to be a doctor?
Because I like helping people and helping people makes me feel good.

What’s your favorite song?   
I still really like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Shoulders by For King and Country, Start a Fire, You Stormed the Walls.

What's your favorite food?
I like dark chocolate and cheese. I really like dairy--yogurt. I really like pickles.

Favorite movie?   
I really like The Sandlot, Parent Trap, the Minions Movie. Back to the Future one through three. I really want them to make a fourth movie!

Favorite book?   

Princess in Black--all three.

Favorite color?   
Purple, light purple and dark purple. Sometimes dark purple looks weird and light purple looks pink, and I don't like pink, even though I'm a girl.

Favorite place to be?

At the hospital, except when I get shots. [What do you like about the hospital?] I'm thinking about the time I had to get my blood drawn.  I like visiting people at the hospital like Papa Roger. I liked riding in the wheelchair and the kid area!

What are your favorite things to do?   
I like swimming and jumping off ladders and stairs in the water. I like to go to gymnastics. [Does a handstand.]

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?   
I'm a really good reader! Um, I need more nighties!

Nellie Nine

How do you feel about being nine?  

I'm happy because I'm getting bored of being eight. After a few months I'm like, "I'm bored, let's do something different." So I'm happy to be nine.

What kinds of things do you anticipate doing now that you're nine?   
Maybe I can start to get more money for doing things like babysitting and stuff like that.

Did you have a favorite birthday present?
I like my UNICEF band from Grandma Linda. I also love my new walking stick and my new duffle bag...but I really like all my presents. Like Aunt Sarah bought me a bag with lots of little presents in it. That was fun! 

What are you most excited about in the next year?
I don't really know, I mean, there's probably a few things different than this year, but I'm still the same Nellie. I'm still the same me.

Who is your best friend?    
Still Avery Hartzler.

Who are your favorite people to hang out with?
My cousins and my siblings. Well, at school I hang out with my friends from school a lot. Like Leah, Kaitlynn, Avery, Emma, Ashley, Molly, and a lot of other people!

What kinds of things are you good at?

Reading, doing math, swimming, and a lot of other things that I don't want to go into because it will make it really long. I'm good at a lot of things.

What might you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be a scientist. Some kind of scientist. I like to study stars so I might work for NASA. Or I might be an archeologist and dig up dinosaur bones to find out how they got extinct.

What’s your favorite song?   
I like Multiplied by Need to Breathe and Flawless by Mercy Me.

Favorite movie?   
Probably a tie between The Sandlot and Parent Trap. I have a LOT of favorite movies. National Treasure was pretty good, too. (Give a special thanks to Avery for that one.) Also Back to the Future one through three.  

Favorite book?   

Probably Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I really liked that one.

Favorite color?   
Turquoisey-blue.

Favorite place to be?

I like to be home, but school's fun, too. Ooh, I like Soaring Eagle Water Park.

What are your favorite things to do?   
I like to read, and...well yeah, read. I do a lot of that. I like to play outside and go swimming and do a lot of other summery things. Kayaking or paddle boarding, boating, going to camp, riding my bike and scooter, pretending. 

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?   
One of my new favorite sayings is, "help me, save me, pardon me!" I still don't like soda pop, I have way too many baby blankets, and I like to go star- and moon-gazing. Hey look, a firefly! Look, see? Right there on the door...

Summer kick-off 2016

Could summer start any better? There's no way to list the highlights, because every moment was a highlight! We spent the first half at the lake, where we got to do all of our favorites--taking the boat to the ice cream store, swimming, paddle boarding, grilling, sitting on the dock, talking with family, walking and riding scooters, throwing rocks in the water, fishing--something for everyone. Then we came home to host the Lounsbury family! We've spent a few great Memorial Day weekends with Josh and Rose, but we hadn't seen each other in FOUR YEARS. That's too long. It was so great to watch the kids play like old friends and catch up on all the things we've missed.

On to the pictures!

Flowers and a flag for the gravesite

Bump on board

Sporting the latest patriotic fashion

Eddie's first paddle board ride--he calls it "mommy's boat"

Cousin buddies

Sorry about the pink life jacket, buddy

Somebody's got to hold down the dock

One way to use the paddle board

Juicy

Double the fish

Success!

Solo scratch-off cups--perfect for large crowds and telling apart the Lounsbury triplets

Lounsbury-Wernet clan!

Fun with the hose

Mowing just like dad

Life is confusing when you're four

On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend we visited Kevin's grandparents' graves. It was Annie's request to bring a flag to the cemetery "for a soldier." When DJ saw his great-grandpa's name, he recognized it as his. I explained that it was where Grandpa Don was buried. DJ looked around, then whispered in my ear, "but there's no cave here." I realized then that his only reference for burial was the Easter story!

The kids' main experience with TV at our house involves Netflix or PBS. So after watching a couple of cartoons at Pam's house, DJ walked up to me with genuine concern. "Aunt Pam's TV makes commercials come on at ALL the good parts!" Kids these days.

Confidence

At almost-seven, Annie is still as sweet and spunky as ever. A couple of fine moments this week:

1) Annie handed me a large Easter egg with the message, "open me." (Yes, she found the eggs in a bag that's been waiting to go downstairs since Easter. As I write this, I realize that was two months ago.) Inside, another egg. Inside that egg, another! And inside that egg was my fortune. "You will have a good life." What a lovely prediction!

2) Last night, I introduced Annie to one of my childhood favorites--The Sandlot. If you're wondering, it's still as entertaining as it was in 1993. But it also taught Annie some--ahem--new words. Anyway, at one point a boy issues another the worst possible insult..."you play ball like a GIRL!" Annie giggled and asked, "What? In the olden days, were girls, like, really bad at baseball?" I love that question!

3) And one more. Kevin and the kids are working on a quail egg incubation project. Tonight as Annie turned the eggs, she announced, "Daddy, every time I turn these eggs they feel heavier! I think the birds are growing, like God is knitting them together in there!"

On motherhood

In honor of Mother's Day, a Facebook campaign started such that if you were tagged by another mom, you were supposed to post a picture that made you happy and proud to be a mom.

This proved too difficult for me.

I looked through some photos and found a handful where we managed to catch everyone together or where kids were smiling at the camera. But the best part of any picture is always the story behind it. Like this one taken at a professional photo shoot on a 90-degree day last summer. Why DJ loves to put his hands on our heads during pictures, I'll never know. But I do know that Kevin and I were laughing because we were on a floating dock, and when we all stood on one end we sunk so low we were standing in several inches of pond water.

In the end, I just couldn't find the right picture. And really, could a picture capture what makes me happy or proud to be a mom? Are those even the right words? The more I thought about it--and I clearly thought too much about it--the less sure I was.

Here's what I can say: I feel a deep sense of gratitude and humility when I look at our 4.5 kids and remember the two years waiting to get pregnant the first time, wondering if we might never be able to have children of our own. Or when I think, as I do often, about our friends who have or are long-suffering through infertility. I have no idea why I was gifted this life, and all I can do is be thankful.

And what makes me proud? Every moment I catch a glimpse of one of these little ones doing something to suggest that somehow, we've improved humanity a tiny bit. When they do or say something to suggest they are more brave, more kind, more thoughtful, more generous, more faithful, and less prejudiced than I am at my deepest core.

No picture--or math test, medal, trophy, or diploma, for that matter--can show that.