Easy Halloween Activity - No Carve Jack-o-Lanterns

I saw this idea in Family Fun, and I loved it. For one, pumpkins are kind of expensive. You just spend money on them, cut them up, let them rot, etc. Glass jars are free. Also, carving pumpkins is still kind of above my kids. And also, my kids love to paint things. This was a winner in my book.

First, we had the kids draw their jack-o-lantern faces on a piece of paper. (Actually, this didn't go as planned. I made the mistake of showing them a few pumpkins online first. They then decided that they wanted exactly the faces they saw in the pictures - a sad one and a mean one - they refused to draw something cute and three-year-old-ish.) Curt then took the images and cut out the pieces of masking tape and put them on the jars.

The kids then added orange paint. No neatness required. We did about three coats. I didn't think this was necessary and only did two coats on my jar. The jars with the three coats definitely have better contrast when finished and lit.

After the paint is dry, peel off the masking tape to reveal your jack-o-lantern face. We found it was helpful, but not completely necessary, to score around the edges of tape with a razor blade before peeling off the tape. Glass is somewhat forgiving, and if excess paint happened to get under the tape, you can just scrape it off.

We used tealights to light our jack-o-lantern family.

Micah's "mean" Jack.

Mackenna's "sad" Jack.

Don't they look like us?

Halloween 2011

Curt - Laura - Micah - Mackenna - Jocelyn

(At least Jocelyn's looks like her!)

Beauty Shop - aka - Girl Bonding

Hair was Done.

Little girl was able to participate.

"Hair" was combed. (A baby mohawk was unable to be captured on camera, but they are Beautician Mackenna's speciality.)

Hair was curled. Maybe I should say "hairs" were curled.

A peek at Jocelyn's new look.

"No, really, sister, I don't think you are looking closely. Let me help you look closer."

Nails were painted.

A good time was had by all of my girls, including me.

Oh, the nap

Everyone is currently quiet in my house. All I hear is white noise through the monitor, and dishes calling my name.

As you can see in the picture, Micah clearly took a nap yesterday, waking up much slower than his happy sister.

Before rest time, we were discussing what it does and does not mean to "be quiet" during rest time. Mackenna told us that she had a hard time sleeping because Wall-E comes in and asks her for help during naptime. She also, a few weeks ago, told me that she heard the sound of a wolf blowing down a pig's house on Nana's street, and that kept her up. Micah told me that he can't sleep because the dark bugs (the ones that are only there if all the lights are off) keep him awake.

At least they are imaginative...and quiet right now.

Water beard

If you drink like this, you'll get a water beard.
- Miss Mackenna

On second thought.

A little while earlier, I posted this picture and caption on facebook.

"I guess I'll keep both of them."

Don't worry, the sentiment still applies for the cute, three year old in the picture. However, I just heard this statement from my son, "Dad, there is throw up in the house. We don't need throw up in the house. We only need throw up in the garage." 

I am rethinking the "both" of them part of the caption.

One month really changes one's perspective

Six weeks ago, I would have felt "bad" leaving Curt with Micah and Mackenna for almost six days. I would have thought that was a lot of work for one person. Now, I found myself thinking, "two kids? two kids who sleep all night? that is nothing." I thought the same thing for myself, "one kid? one kid who doesn't whine or talk back or disobey? that is nothing." I can handle one kid. I can handle two kids. I am really still in a learning process of how to handle three kids. (Well, three kids and only one parent. When two parents/adults are around, that is a different story!)


I was very overwhelmed last night, thinking about all that needed to be done and how tired I was/am. It is true, not sleeping for more than 2.5 to 3.5 hours at a time for 5 weeks really does wear on you. Curt encouraged me to go to bed. He then told me that you never know, "maybe tonight is the night." He said that needs to be my new attitude. That made me laugh.

Just when I was overwhelmed, God blessed me with another visit from Marcia today. She called at just the perfect time, and she came down and spent some late morning/early afternoon time with me. She made lunch for the twins while I fed Jocelyn. I was able to make the kids the smoothies they had been asking for. She played with them while I was able to fold and put away the laundry and make it so I can walk through my bedroom again - some of the things that were so overwhelming to me last night. What a blessing.

I didn't realize how much I had gotten used to having "me time" when the kids went to bed around 8:00. Time to regroup, clean, do a project, watch TV, catch up on internet. Now that that "me time" is more "we time" with the J girl and myself, I feel a little out of control. Things that I thought would be "no big deal" (like making super easy Halloween costumes), really are a big deal. The toys don't get picked up, the dishes stay in the sink, the bedrooms explode. I know this is okay, but it really can be overwhelming to feel so bad at everything. I am good at handling one thing at a time, but that isn't how life goes, somehow you are supposed to figure out how to do lots of things at a time and not fall off the bicycle you are riding while doing those lots of things. Maybe I need to put on some training wheels.

So, yes, motherhood is hard. I have found myself saying "this is hard" a lot. Not sleeping is hard. Having three kids is hard. One day - one minute - at a time.

(Why am I writing this down instead of sleeping? Because I find myself in a pure panic when I think about how poorly my brain is working and how I am going to forget these precious days. I am going to go take a peaceful nap now, and I am going to work on keeping writing things down. All things in moderation.)

Things I learned in Indiana

Funeral thoughts are a separate matter, but here are some thoughts from the remainder of our visit. 

Grandma Snyder told me that when dad was 5 weeks old she took him out for the first time to visit her Grandma Miller (her dad's mom). She called dad "Snookems" all throughout the visit. J needs a nickname. I like it. We're going try and make a go of it.

Grandma's great grandma, her mom's grandma, Grandma Dudley, made 7 trips back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean to Wales, visiting family and friends, while directing the clearing of their land here in Indiana. She said that in the family, if anyone was ever "doing something," you were said to be being just like Grandma Dudley. She was a great cook and often had large family dinners. So large that they had to make oyster soup in a giant boiler pot (used to wash clothes).

Grandma Sharbaugh says that Jocelyn looks like "one of her babies." Specifically, one of her boys. When my babies are little, it is so fun that the Sharbaughs stay up so late. It was no problem at all for Teri to hold J for a little bit and while I took a late night nap upstairs. 

Nean and Pappy were high school sweethearts. As far as Dana knows, the only person either one of them had ever dated. They  have been married for over 60 years. Not bad.

I also learned that a car seat makes a really great bed for a semi-fussy baby.

Disjointed thoughts

- My favorite quote from "The Help" so far is this..."Those bedrooms should be stacked full of kids laughing and hollering and pooping up the place." Who knew that we were doing it right the whole time!?

- I said to Micah today, "Micah, you can't tell Mackenna how to play. She is free to pretend however she wants to." Marcia was here and chimed in, "if you had a dime for every time you said that, you would be rich." She is right. Micah is controlling and definitely his sister's leader. This is an ongoing "issue" for us. Yesterday he said something like, "Mackenna, I am sad, but if we left the barn closed, I would be happy." We then worked out a compromise where we left the barn closed, but Mackenna got to play with all the pigs, even the brown pig. A minute later, Micah asked for the brown pig. When she didn't give it to him, he went off sulking in the other room. Mackenna so desperately wanted to play with him that she went and found him and gave him the brown pig. And today there was another comment about, "Mackenna, I would be happy if you would pretend to be a snake, but if you pretend to be a princess, I will be sad." Oh dear.

- Micah has really hooked onto the phrase "take a pause." Yesterday he asked me to take a pause from eating pizza and get him some water.

- When I asked Micah at dinner to look at my eyes, he started looking awkwardly at anything but my eyes - his pizza, his feet, the ceiling. If it wasn't so frustrating and tiring, it would be really cute!

- The twins got their MMR shot yesterday. The nurse asked which one wanted to go first, Mackenna said "me me" and hopped up on the table, didn't even want to sit in my lap. She didn't make one single noise before, during, or after the shot. Micah did the same thing. The nurse was shell shocked. I was very thankful.

- I think Jocelyn would like to be an only child. She doesn't sleep very deeply and the kids wake her up a lot. (Sometimes on purpose, like when they opened the door to my room, went in, and started touching her head in the bassinet. Sometimes just because they have no idea what an inside voice is.) This makes her fairly cranky. And she is 50/50 on the issue of whether she would like them in her face all. the. time.

- As far as sleep goes for Jocelyn, things are looking up. She took a really great afternoon nap yesterday and morning nap today, both in her bassinet. I have been using the sound machine, and it does really seem to help her fitful sleeping. She still stirs frequently, but doesn't fully wake up and dozes quickly back off to sleep. I also have been pleasantly surprised by her new ability to sometimes "put herself to sleep." She really wasn't doing this at all last week. Last night after she ate around 2 am, she was wide awake. She wouldn't eat any more, and Curt and I were really tired. He put her back in her bassinet, left the light partly on, and she eventually went to sleep. Yup, you heard that right; he left the light on. For some reason, if she is laid down awake, she is much more calm about it if it isn't dark. She really seems to want the light to be on. Weird. This morning after some wake time, she was starting to get fussy. I tried rocking her for a bit, but she wouldn't give in to sleep. I laid her in her bassinet, and she quickly dozed off. Yippee. She still isn't giving me any majorly long stretches at night (not giving me one long first stretch with shorter following stretches), but she is starting to go closer to four hours between nighttime feedings. Also, since I have been home, she hasn't had any long periods of just crying/screaming/awake/needing rocked/walked/etc at night.

- As far as sleep goes for Micah and Mackenna, we may be near the end of nap. I am hoping that this weekend, Curt and I can work on what it means to stay in bed and stay quiet, even if they don't fall asleep.

- At the risk of having cps called on me, here is a story from Monday. I'll preface it by saying that Jocelyn has since had her one month check up and is doing fine. I look up from the couch and see Mackenna carrying a "doll." I don't think much of it until a split second later when Curt comes running in and says, "Mackenna, what are you doing." Yup, the doll was Jocelyn. Mackenna told us that she had been crying and she wanted to bring her to us. Oh my. Oh my.

One month (five week) check up

Stats:
9 lbs 9.5 oz (50th percentile, gained 28 oz in 21 days)
21.5 inches (50th again)
36.9 cm (50th)
Doctor resisted calling her average. She sure is above average on the special scale.
Mackenna wants to write her name:
M, aacwmk9olpue x x4ty78pox4ty78po



Jocelyn has fussy moments. But, I really was chalking it up to "being a baby" and trying to just roll with it. It doesn't seem to be consistent, perpetual, or predictable, so I really didn't think it was a GI issue. So, I was a little surprised when the doctor went ahead and suggested doing Zantac with her. I know there are many thoughts on this; I have many too. I decided to give it a try for a few days and see if it helps. We started last night. My thoughts so far:

- It is hard to give an infant medicine.
- She has been a dream today. Coincidence? Helping? Who knows.

The many of faces of one-month-old Jocelyn

(Pictures of our 1 month old, taken with my phone's camera, at Nana's house in Indiana)

Dear Jocelyn,

You were one month old yesterday. You had quite the day. First of all, you were one thousand miles from home, in mama's hometown in Indiana. Also, you got to spend time with two of your Great Grandmas. You were a little fussy for Great Grandma Snyder, but she still said "she's so sweet" again and again. You fell asleep in your carseat leaving Grandma Snyder's and snoozed during the very short ride to Nean and Pappy's. You weren't overly thrilled when I tried to get you out of your carseat and give you to Nean, but she had the magic touch and managed to calm you down again. We had a nice visit.

(Not sure what happened to the rest of this post, I will attempt to recreate it later.)

Okay, I'm back. It is now the 24th of October, just a few days late. As I look back over the past month, I am struck with both the "how has it already been a month" and the "how has it only been a month" feelings. Definitely a month I am thankful for, and here are some things that stand out. 

For a little girl who lives 1000 miles from your family, you have actually gotten to meet a lot of your family. Nana was able to come visit and so was Aunt Christa. Uncle John, Aunt Marissa, Uncle Evan, and Aunt Bri were able to spend a few days with us in Florida too. Then, in Indiana, you were able to meet Papa, Allison, Grandma, Grandpa, and all of the Youngs and Roses. (Of course the Great Grandparents too, but those were mentioned above!) You have been loved and adored by all who have been able to meet you. Everyone comments how precious, sweet, beautiful you are. You frequently get called a little doll by strangers and family alike. Aunt Julie and Uncle Bronson both mentioned how they couldn't help but notice how cute you were when they saw the first picture after birth.

I am figuring out some of the things that you like, and I think this is making you somewhat happier. You have always been a fairly alert baby, and you are getting more and more so. Your awake time is getting less painful for all of us. One night I was able to calm you down by moving my hand down from the air to your belly, saying "boop, boop, boop, babababababoop." You seemed to like this. You also seem to like having your legs moved in a "running" motion while on my lap. Tonight I sang a "do run run run, a do run run" to you while I did this. Sometimes you like laying with your tummy across my arm, facing down or outwards. You do like being rocked, swayed, patted, and bounced. You like these things a lot. Rocking in a rocking chair is becoming a big favorite of yours, and patting your back while rocking just sweetens the deal. You like being held out from the body, facing the person who is holding you. You especially like this if the person will bounce you while holding you this way. Grandma Emens would have been proud; you definitely approve of the "bottom pat" method of child calming. You love movement - either in your carseat or your stroller. Pretty much a car ride guarantees a great nap. If you are fussy or tired, jostling you is the way to fix it. I am beginning to think we may have doomed ourselves by naming you "Jocelyn" - both with your behavior in and out of the womb - but we'll cling to the fact that you also have provided us with much joy and we'll allow that to redeem the name.

Speaking of joy, you seem to be smiling on purpose. I realize this is early, and who knows if it is "real" or not, but it is defiinitely becoming more frequent. You gave dad a smile before we left for Indiana, you smiled really big at Mike Emens and I during Grandma Emen's funeral, you smiled at both Nana and Grandma during the trip, and you also smiled for Grandma Snyder. Dad was able to receive a welcome smile when we returned from our trip today. Hopefully this is a sign of more and more happiness to come. We hope you like us. 

I love to kiss your cheeks. They are so soft. I love love love to rub my cheeks against yours and soak up your newness and your softness. Papa commented as he rubbed your head that you seem to like these touches as much as we do; it really calmed you down. Your "brand new" softness is fading, but it is being replaced by a squishy chubbiness that also makes me happy. In addition to the cheeks, you are beginning to work on an impressive set of chins.

If the cheeks and chins aren't enough of an indication, by all other accounts you seem to be off on a great track with nursing. You are gaining, peeing, pooping, gulping, and doing all the other things that a good eater should do. I am very thankful for this. Sometimes you refuse to eat from the second side, but, in general, you seem satisfied in those times. You still have some "in pain" moments during nursing, but maybe things are getting better. I am thinking that it is gas pains - not acid reflux or milk intolerance. 

You have taken a pacifier some. You got it for the first time while Aunt Christa was here, and it seemed to coincide with your initial "pull away from me in pain and refuse to latch on" period. You quickly lost the pacifier privilege. However, things have gotten better with that, and I did let you have the pacifier more on our trip to Indiana. You did find your thumb a few times in this first month of life. We'll see how all of that ends up.

You aren't a great sleeper, at least you aren't great at putting yourself to sleep. As I mentioned before, you would prefer us to bounce, walk, pat, or rock you to sleep, or you would prefer a quick car trip to lull yourself off to dreamland. Once asleep, you will stay asleep okay, but you aren't currently stretching out your nighttime feedings yet. You eat every 2.5 to 3 hours, pretty much day and night. This is fine with me, but I would prefer that you realize the glories of nighttime sleep and stop having awake periods during the night. Probably 5 of 7 nights, you refuse to go back to sleep after one of your night feedings, and you stay awake to party instead. You will be fairly content if you are held, but not so much if we try to encourage you to take the party back to your bed. You also have a tendency to sleep for long segments during the day and then be awake for long segments, not the eat, wake, sleep cycle that "they" say you should.

Your brother and sister love you, even if they express this by touching your head a lot, picking you up and carrying you to me because "you're crying," or just repeatedly saying "she's so little." Most of the time, you love them. However, it does seem like having them constantly in your face, especially if you are already on edge, can really drive you nuts. We are still working on how to live in harmony as a family of five.

You did great on both plane rides to and from Indiana. You didn't sleep the whole time, but you didn't cry the whole time. A passenger in the row behind us didn't even know you were there. Thank you. Thank you for joining our family. Thank you for making us the "Sharbaugh Five." We are enjoying getting to know you. You have a wonderful daddy, and his wonderful support is part of the reason that I'm as upbeat as I am as I type this. I hope you will think you have a wonderful mommy too. You do have a mommy, at least, that loves you very very much, and will continue telling you that as long as I am able.

Happy First Month,
Love,
Mama

Grandma E

My Grandma Emens passed away this weekend, my mother's mother.

I don't have a lot to say about this right now, but before I get on a plane tomorrow with my four week old baby to go celebrate her life, I wanted to record a few thoughts. These are the things that initially stand out to me from my grandchild perspective, obviously different from a peer relationship, but special nonetheless.

- Grandma was great with babies. She was very natural with them, would hold them on her lap and just pat their bottom as she talked to you. She would make faces at them and was very unruffled when they would cry. She didn't panic or make you feel bad; she just kept patting and talking to them, and things got better.

- Grandma was down to earth, but valued her family greatly. I missed my Grandpa's funeral, and my sister did too, because he passed away when the twins were first born. Christa was here with me. Grandma was insistent that this was exactly where we were supposed to be. She was so glad Christa was here caring for me, and she very clearly made it known that she was completely fine that we both missed the services. We might not have been, but she was, and she very lovingly and firmly told us that.

- Grandma was a faithful wife. She made a pie pretty much nightly for her husband, for who knows how many years (Grandpa loved his pie). She cared for him as his health was failing, and would have stayed home caring for him until the end, had it been only up to her.

- Grandma wasn't a fancy person and didn't have an extravagant life, but she seemed very content. When we would visit her, our days were very routine. We had breakfast, we played cards, we watched Price is Right, we had lunch, we rested, we had dinner, we watched Wheel of Fortune, we went to bed. She never seemed like she wanted anything fancier for her life.

- Grandma was a great cook - I would gladly eat her noodles and angel food cake every day for the rest of my life.

- Grandma was insistent that I write the names and dates on the back of every picture I gave her. She scolded me once when I neglected to do this. It is a habit that I will do my best to continue. She also scolded me once when I stopped by her independent living apartment to drop off some flowers close to the anniversary of Grandpa's death. I knew it was her rest time, and I had knocked lightly and she hadn't come to the door. I left the flowers and the note from Christa and I, and I left. She called and let me know, very clearly, that it was always okay for me to wake her up, and never okay for me to stop by without saying hi. Not to make it seem like she was also scolding, but I can also remember a few times where I was reminded that thank you notes were the appropriate response to a gift and even one phone call checking to make sure I had actually gotten a gift since no thank you note was received. (I wish I could say that this was one habit that she instilled in me, but I clearly still struggle with this.)

- Grandma wrote me a note once that I will never forget. It didn't say much, only about 4 lines. One of them said this, "your mother would be proud." That was all she needed to say.

I'm so glad my grandmother was able to hold two of my babies, and so glad that my third baby will be with me as we grieve her death and celebrate her life this week. I'm also blessed to be able to spend some time with my three remaining grandparents and introduce them to my sweet Jocelyn. Life is fleeting.

(On a side note, I have no idea what my "sweet" Jocelyn will choose to do during the funeral service. I am reminded of Curt's grandfather's funeral, which was when I was pregnant with the twins. There were a couple of babies there, and one of them was making some noise. This didn't phase me, but it extremely encouraged Curt. He loved the reminder that with each death, there are also new lives. Curt's grandfather's legacy lived on in those little cries at the funeral service that day. We'll see if Jocelyn chooses to bless others with that reminder as well.)