Oh, Fuuuudddddgggge!

1. The week of Christmas I made fudge for the first time ever.
2. It was delicious.
3. It was intended to be treats for neighbors, but that just didn't happen this year. We had a lot of good intentions. Isn't the road to hell paved with those? Oh well. We ate the fudge ourselves.
4. Even when I was on the brink of a sugar-induced coma, I'd snatch up another piece.
5. We had so many plates of goodies dropped by that by Christmas Eve I just wanted to eat a carrot. I ate fudge instead.
6. I renewed my gym membership yesterday.
7. I'll make fudge again next year. For the neighbors...yes, for "the neighbors".

Christmas Joyness

Christmas was Snuggie-licious. The Snuggie was on Anders and Addie's wish lists this year. I think they look like they're in a cult when they wear them. The Snuggie Cult.

Santa brought Anders an MP3 player. Our child is old enough to ask for an MP3 player. Weirdness.

Aani got the hang of present-opening pretty quick.
Santa brought Addie an Easy Bake Oven. Santa forgot the 100 watt light bulb that goes in the oven. Darn that Santa! Darn him all to heck!Ava took a nap. All day.
The aftermath.
Christmas is wonderful. I'm glad it's but once a year.

Oh, it is ON!

What the H-E-double hockey sticks is up with the mice? Was there something about the weather this year that's making the little pieces of crap invade everyone's homes? I don't know how many are lurking around our house. I've had 4 sightings.

Nils caught one a few nights ago with one of those sticky traps. It squeaked as it got its head stuck on the thing, and we were feeling sad for it. He said, "I know it's stupid to feel bad for it, but they really are cute." Then he threw it away in the subfreezing temperatures, and we felt a little better.

At 4:52 this morning, I was woken up by something crawling on me. IN MY BED. I threw off the blanket and yelled really loud, "OHMYGOSHAMOUSE! IT WAS ON ME!" Nils bravely instructed me to take Ava and go into the living room, but the damn thing got away. (When dealing with mice and other disease infested rodents/creatures, it's perfectly acceptable to swear. But only little swears like damn and hell.)

To all mice everywhere! You may be cute, but I believe you were created by the devil, and you must die.

Many moons ago when we lived in the woods of CT, we had mice in our house. We bought some humane traps with a one-way door. We caught several mice and they were so cute that we felt bad for them and set them free outside. They came back. They got into the cupboards and nibbled through boxes of food, and we could hear them scurrying through the attic at night. One day we were getting ready for church, and I found a nest of egg noodles in my shoe. A NEST OF EGG NOODLES! It was then that they were shown no mercy and they were executed.

So... anyone have some great mouse killing techniques you'd like to share? Please? I may never sleep again.

How Thankful am I

Three people brought us food yesterday. I haven't had to cook in over a week, and it's AWESOME (sung opera style)!! Thank you, thank you, to all the wonderful people around me.

The kids love Ava. They think she's "so cute", and they think she's funny. "She makes funny faces! She likes it when I poke her in the eye! She likes it when I'm a half inch away from her face! She's asleep because I sang her a lullaby!"

I just love her little folded up body. I wish it weren't so cold so I could unwrap her more and stare at her cute little legs and belly. Speaking of Ava's belly, Aani saw her cord stump the other day and completely freaked out. She ran away screaming, "button has poopies!" and wouldn't come near Ava for an hour.

Before the baby is born, it's hard to imagine what life will be like with a new child in it, and how the family dynamic that you're used to is going to change, etc. I've been amazed every time that once my little baby is born, it's like I've known her (or him) forever. She's part of our family- she always has been and always will be.

Last week Nils was folding laundry and held up a pile of maternity clothes. He asked me what I wanted him to do with them, and I said, "Burn them." Then I sobbed for an hour. It hit me that this is it; I'll never wear those awful clothes again. It's such a weird paradox; being pregnant is miserable and it's not something I want to go through again. But that sacred experience of meeting your new baby makes everything more than worth it.

However, I love not being pregnant. And as life marches on, it boils down to a quality of life and a quality of parenting. We shall see how it goes with the four A's.

Ava's Birthday

Here is a fact-based post about sweet Ava's birthday. I want to write a separate "feelings" post.

I had a feeling a few weeks ago that I should go ahead and schedule an induction. I'm glad I did, because the last few days of my pregnancy were fraught with pregnancy-induced hypertension. (I had wanted to let nature take its course, avoid an epidural, and avoid paying an anesthesiologist. I'm getting very cheap in my old age.)

This extremely attractive and happy picture is of me last Sunday. I'd had a migraine all week, was swelling in my hands and face, and my blood pressure was on the rise. Hooray for PIH!

I had just woken up, and Nils started taking pictures. I was saying these words as this picture was taken: "Nils, stop. Seriously, it's rude." I was a delight to be around.

On delivery day, I was told to be at the hospital at 7:00 am. We were literally walking out the door when they called and said 3 women had just come in in labor, so I had to wait.

So I did.
Once again, we can thank Nils and his insatiable need to take pictures.

We got the call to go to the hospital. They hooked me up around 11:00 am. We watched two episodes of Glee. It made the time pass oh-so-quickly. The contractions were coming, but I was handling it like a champ. At this point I was still seriously considering NOT having an epidural. At about 1:50 the contractions were coming fast and furious about a minute apart- and hurting lots. I went from watching Mr. Shu & Co. dance and sing about to realizing I had a matter of minutes before things were getting serious, and if I was going to get the epidural it was then or not at all. My water broke while I was getting it, and I was hurting a lot. Then...that magical, warm, numb, tingley feeling came. (And now I owe that guy like $500. It was worth it at the time.) It numbed everything below my belly-button, but I still felt every contraction. I told the nurse that it was going to go fast from that point. Sure enough, I was at a 9. She called the doctor, who made it just in time. One push!

Ava Catherine Rasmusson
December 1, 2009 at 2:30 pm
6 lbs. 5 oz. 19"

El Doctor- Hey, thanks for showing up, buddy!

The doctor said I had the longest umbilical cord he's ever seen. It was like 3 1/2 feet long or something crazy. He kept coming back and looking at it. I don't know how to grow big babies, but I can grow freakishly long umbilical cords. It's how I roll.

The hospitals have major visitor restrictions because of the swine flu, so the kids weren't allowed at all. It was kind of sad that they had to wait until I got home to meet their new sister. Though I have to admit, it was nice to have a couple of days with just Ava and me before the chaos ensued. I love her.

She's Here!

Ava Catherine Rasmusson was born today at 2:30. She's a beautiful little earthling. She was quite the screamer for a few minutes but as I type she is sleeping peacefully and doing great. She's adorable. Here's her debut video. Thanks for all your prayers, thoughts and help. Katrina is doing great - the delivery went smoothly and quickly. Here's a video of Ava.