Ordinary Time

We like to snooze in the morning, We like to snooze all day, We like to snooze where ever we choose, Snoozing our cares away. But when the world grows quiet, And the evening moon is bright, We put on our pajamas, And all hug our mama, And never fall asleep all night.

(G. on left, L. on right) For much of our marriage, J. and I had a herding dog, Simone...a Bouvier des Flandres. I had always read that many herding dogs would herd the children, and I thought it would be so cute to watch Simone herd our future children around. As you probably guessed, reality wasn't quite as cute as I had imagined it. Simone was happiest when everyone was in the same room, preferably sitting down. When outside in the yard or going for walks, Simone would be on constant alert. If a child ran across the yard, Simone was after him or her, yipping (if you can say a 68 pound dog yips) until the child could be convinced to return to the 'herd'. Games of tag were impossible if Simone were out in the yard too. For an animal who had never seen a real sheep in her entire suburban existence, she understood about keeping her sheep together and gave it her best effort...whether it was convenient for us or not. I have decided I must be part herding dog myself, minus th

E. (in a much more flattering picture) with L. (in purple) and G. (in pink). Did I mention how little I did at the end of this pregnancy? I was really not exaggerating about just sitting in a chair. This included actually parenting my children. Oh, I did the basic things. They were fed, clothed, and a modicum of reasonable behavior was expected. But, I gave a lot of passes to other behavior. I just didn't have the energy to be as on top of things as I usually am. Now that I am coming out of the pregnancy fog (it's feels a bit like Dorothy suddenly finding herself in Oz), I am looking around at my younger children and wondering how things have reached the state they have. I am reaping the effects of a lack of schedule and minimum expectations. So, we are going back to basics. There have been a lot more 'do-overs' around here. The younger ones evidently all need to practice responding and obeying in an appropriate manner and everyone has fallen off the chore wagon. We a

"Everybody knows what a mammal is, Everyone who understands. They're warm-blooded, have hair on the bodies, And suckle their young from mammary glands." This is a rhyme that M. learned long ago about the characteristics of mammals. She would repeat it often. So often that it has become part of our family culture. If anyone says the word 'mammal', someone else is bound to repeat the rhyme. Sort of our own family call-and-response tradition. Since nursing has become such a big part of life, discussions about mammals have been fairly frequent around here. TM and D can tell you all sorts of animals which are mammals. They can also tell you what is not a mammal...fish, frogs, birds, and dishwashers. And until the newest members of our family decide to sleep for more than 1 hour at a time at night, there is the strong possibility that my posts may become loopier and loopier. Anyone hoping for coherence may have a while to wait.

(G. in pink and L. in green. They just won't stay awake, no matter what...at least during daylight hours.) On Thursday, the babies and I were finally discharged and thankfully came home leaving the small four walls and the constant pokings and proddings of the hospital behind. For those of you knowledgeable about such things, you will wonder at my spending three nights in the hospital and not the normal two (or less). In his previous postings, J. left out the 'excitement' which occurred after the twins' arrival, in which I started to hemorrhage, requiring an hour long procedure, the details of which, thanks to the narcotics they gave me, I remain blissfully unaware. I received one unit of blood in the recovery room where I spent the next 6 hours, floating in and out of conciousness thanks to a second dose of a different narcotic. I finally met my new daughters about 7 hours after they were born. (J. promises me that he brought them over to me so I could see them, but I

[J] Here are a few more pictures... from yesterday, the girls' birthday. This is baby G, the first one out. She practically leaped out at 6:59am... weighing 6lbs. 15oz. And here is baby L, who arrived at 7:02am. Despite the fact that she was only 3 minutes behind her sister, she required a bit more... umm... manipulation... before she finally made her feet-first entry/exit. She was 7lbs. 6oz. Are they identical? Not sure yet... though all of our biological infants have had a striking family resemblance. However, they are similar enough that I think we'll be color-coding for some time to come. Clearly, E would not have chosen this picture of herself to post, and I hasten to add that she is looking much less disheveled one day later. But she and the girls are all doing well, and have had many visitors. M and D are very good big brothers, carefully holding their new sisters. K, however, is mainly interested in poking the babies' eyes, noses, mouths, etc. He won't be assign

Here they are! The newest Currys! (G is on the left; L on the right.) More pictures to come....

(M) I am pleased to say that at about 7:30am the Curry family swelled to 9 kids and 2 adults. Genevieve, Lena, and E are all doing well. We don't have pictures to put up yet but will post some as soon as we can. Everyone at home is overjoyed and can't wait to meet the new sisters. Thank you for your prayers.

[J] Let the record show that we'll be leaving for the hospital at roughly 6:00am, CDT, June 15, 2009. With any luck, the two newest DDs will be sharing their birthday with eldest brother B. (I don't think he'll mind... and that's one less date to remember for me. Very thoughtful of them!) More news as events develop.

OK, so maybe not really, but I feel like one. Evidently it is a fairly rare thing to get to 39 weeks while carrying twins. At least that's how it seems by the amount of discussion I generate every time I go to the doctor's office. As you may have assumed, I am still pregnant. A week and a half ago the babies were measuring at ~7 1/2 pounds, so I'm not even thinking about what size they must be now. Today, I was at the hospital so they could check amniotic fluid levels (good), placental health (good), and to have a non-stress test. Both baby's heartbeats are normal and behaving exactly as they should be. "Textbook perfect" is the term the nurse used. I also discovered that I have been having contractions (according to the non-stress test monitor), but I'm just not feeling them. So, while I am relieved that the babies look good, I am still in limbo as to when they are going to be born. The OB keeps mentioning that he will induce me any time I want him to, an

[J] Dear readers, you've heard from E how incredibly pregnant, uncomfortable, and bored she's been. Today, though, the boredom got the upper hand, and E decided that since she wasn't actually in labor, she might as well go spend the day in Naperville at the ICHE (Ill. Christian Home Educators) conference. What the heck. After all, she can sit and listen there about as comfortably as she can sit around the house... and it's something different... and maybe walking around the vendor's hall will bring on labor! So, if you happen to see a very, very pregnant woman in Naperville, remind her to put her feet up.

I went to see my now good friend, Tami, the ultrasound technician yesterday. The babies still look healthy and are estimated to be ~7 1/2 pounds now. It's not really possible I will go all the way to my due date (June 20) is it? If so, I may be delivering 9 pound twins. I was kind of hoping to have two new babies for my birthday on Sunday, but nothing seems to be happening right now. I continue with my exciting life of sleeping and sitting. I fall asleep all the time. Earlier this week M. made me a big mug of tea. (Red raspberry leaf tea...it's supposed to help bring on labor.) It was still a little bit too hot to drink so I was holding it waiting for it to cool off. Evidently I fell sound asleep while I was waiting because the next thing I know, I've spilled the entire mug of tea all over me, the chair, and the floor. Thankfully it had cooled enough so I didn't burn myself, and M. was still around to help clean everything up. The only other big household new