Trip to Canada

I`m finally getting back to blogging.  Our 12 year old laptop was dying a slow painful death, which made typing rather tedious.   With a baby, typing on our desktop was also a rather unenjoyable wrestling match.  So, now with the laptop out of our life, we began shopping for a new one.  After weighing all the options, we opted to just get a keyboard for our tablet and see how that goes.  It was the cheapest option too, which helped make the decision.  My only chance for writing is in the evening when everyone is in bed (and I`m endlessly nursing Celeste to sleep), so writing on my lap is most doable.  This keyboard has lighted keys, so hopefully won`t be too crampy, and I can catch back up.

I do enjoy writing, and although I don`t have the greatest writing skills nor vocabulary, it`s a good way to journal our life and share thoughts and also to sort thoughts out.  Anyhow, I`ll start with our trip to Canada in August and then see where things go.

We planned on leaving on a Thursday, but Greg`s work was pretty slow, so he asked his boss if we could leave a few days earlier.  This threw me for a loop, as I had planned to do laundry the day before we left so everything would be clean.  I also like to just pack all the clothes all at once, so then I'm not continually tallying how much of everything I have for each person.  Easier to just count out 5  shirts, 2 pants....for each kid, all at one time.  So, I frantically threw clothes in the washer and got started with the finalities.  We ended up leaving early Wednesday morning instead of Thursday after work, so got a pretty good head start.  Luke was awake at 3 a.m. and Greg was awake at 4 a.m., but after I had stayed up until 11 p.m. the night before getting everything ready, I was in no shape (or mood) to get cracking yet.  I was fighting a nasty cold, so my head was not feeling so hot.  We gassed up in Kalama at 6:30, so that was a pretty good start.

We drove all day, through the Columbia Gorge (we like taking that route on our way out, so we can see the sun coming up through there) and drove all day.  We stopped for lunch near my cousin's in Cheney, WA, although didn't get to see her as she was working and her family had plans.  We then carried on through Spokane and planned to eat supper in Sandpoint, ID at Panhandler Pies.  We usually try to stop there going one way or the other, so it worked out this time.  As we were turned north at Coeur d'Alene, we could see storm clouds in the distance and wondered whether we would get in the storm or not.  By the time we got to the restaurant, the wind and rain were getting bad.  The whole time we were eating, the doors on the restaurant were banging open and shut with the wind, and we were thankful we were inside.  After some warm soup and pie (and quesadillas for the kids), we got back on the road.  We then found that the storm was over, but there were trees downed everywhere, and the power was out all over.  When we tried to find a motel, there was no power, and we saw numerous workers out clearing debris off of the road.  James had just been asking what would happen if a tree was struck by lightning and then fell onto the road, and so we explained that it easily could have happened in that storm we just missed.  We were so thankful that God kept us safe and that we had stopped for supper and totally missed it.  We made it across the border and to Cranbrook that night, and stayed in a motel that we have stayed in before.  And then clunked off to sleep.

The next morning we had breakfast at a nearby restaurant (the motel had vouchers for a discount) and then got back on the road.  We stopped for a swim at Radium Hot Springs (my favorite) and ate our lunch of hummus and crackers and veggies on the tailgate of our station wagon.  Some kids walking by were awfully jealous of those back facing seats in the back of the station wagon.  Pretty cute!  Onward to Leslieville.  We opted to take the Lake Louise/Rocky Mountain House way, as the mountains are so gorgeous and there is so little traffic.  Driving through the Rockies is always so awe inspiring, and even though it was rainy, we enjoyed the last few hours.  Well, except Celeste.  She had pretty much had enough of the car seat by then, so we made some improvises.  We saw huge areas that had been in wildfires, and they were still smoldering in the rain.  We got to Dad and Mom's Thursday evening.

Friday and Saturday were just spent relaxing and resting, which is done best at my parents.  It's so peaceful at their farm, it's hard to get motivated to do much.  The kids played on the big swing, played with Mitts the dog and checked on things with Dad and Grandpa.  On Saturday night there was a service at church, so Greg and the kids went to that.  Isaac had come down with my sore throat/cough so I stayed home with him and Celeste.

On Sunday, back to church.  I stayed home again, as Isaac still wasn't feeling well.  While they were at church (my Dad was preaching), James saw an angel flying around up at the front.  He said it was about 1 foot high, and bright green.  It flew from side to side of the church and then vanished.  We all thought that was pretty neat, although not sure of its significance.  James is our boy who really ponders if God is real, if he is a Christian and so many other questions, and so perhaps God used this to strengthen James' faith.  He felt pretty excited about it, and felt pretty special that he was the only one who saw it.

We had a picnic that day after church for whoever wanted to come.  Lots of visiting and yummy picnic food.  And cousin time.  My nephew said, "I've never had a day go by that fast in my life, we just kept playing game after game after game!"  My kids haven't seen him in over 2 years, but they just picked right up and got along great.  Tired kids that night!

We tried to just relax most of the trip, but towards the end, things got busy.  We went to visit my sister and family, then my brother and family.  We had a potluck for the "girls" of us who grew up together.  We went to see an Herbalist who looked at our blood (that will be a whole other post of itself).  We got to see my cousin's family who moved to Michigan from Washington 4 years ago, and we haven't seen them all this time.  That was great to catch back up.  While we were at her parents, I had Celeste sitting on the grass in front of me playing with a plastic spoon.  She isn't a very good sitter yet, and toppled over before I could catch her.   When she did, the spoon poked and cut the roof of her mouth.  Even though it was the blunt end, there was still a lot of crying and a lot of blood.  We were finally able to get her calmed down and the bleeding stopped (I knew they couldn't do anything in the ER anyhow) and headed "home" to my brother's house where we were spending the night.  In the car seat she started crying again and proceeded to cry harder than ever until 2 a.m.  I had only seen a small cut in her mouth, but in the morning when I could get a better look, saw that there was another much bigger cut in another place.  Poor little thing.  We had finally given her some teething tablets that calmed her down enough to sleep.  I was so frazzled I didn't know what to do.  Thankfully it healed up good.

Greg was getting sick by now, and although the next day was my cousin's wedding, we made plans to head for home.  We ended up staying for the wedding and then heading out right after.  That would give Greg an extra day to recover once we were home before he had to go back to work.  We went to Red Deer and then headed south towards Calgary and south from there.  We stopped for supper and then headed west.  Now, I'll have you know that I've been looking for a moose the last 3-4 times we have gone to Canada.  They are such huge, amazing animals and I wanted to show Greg and the kids. My eyes have been peeled every trip, but no moose.  Just after we got on the highway to head west, a big bull moose lumbered across the road right in front of us.  Greg had to screech on the brakes (he wasn't close enough to hit it but wanted a picture) and hopped out and snapped a picture of him.  My day was made. Happy Rachel.  The kids all got to see it too.  We kept on driving through the Crowsnest Pass and ended up at the same motel in Cranbrook again.  Off to bed.

The next morning we had a long day ahead of us to get home.  Drive thru McD's for breakfast and as we were driving out of the parking lot, we see a car turning around quickly who suddenly high centered itself onto a curb.  Greg went over to help them and the man was so embarrassed at what he had done.  Then the wife confessed, "We were so busy checking out your station wagon that we weren't paying attention to the curb."  Oops!  It was a small car, so Greg was able to help them get it off the curb and then lent them some duct tape to tape the loose trim back on the car until they could fix it.  We plugged along uneventfully home at 10 that night.  Whew!  Enough is enough.

We drove our station wagon so that Celeste could sit up in front.

The kids in the rear seat get a totally different vacation than the rest of us!

At Panhandler Pies in Sandpoint, ID.

On the road

Kids on the road.  Still smiling!

Relaxing at Dad & Mom's

Helping Grandpa in the hay field

Baling

Celeste was happy with Grandpa (she was fussing for everyone else)

Cute little Hutterite girl

Catching up with the Lampinen kids (who we haven't seen in 4 years)

My moose!

Goats on the roof!

Experienced Parenting

Since we're now at baby number 5, I feel safe to say that we're in experienced parenting territory.  And the longer I'm a parent, the less advice I can give.  Because I've seen that what works for us probably won't work for you because so many dynamics are different.  You can't take any credit for an "easy" baby, just as you can't take credit for any challenges that you encounter either.  

Back when Luke was a baby, he had colic.  Every evening from 4-11 p.m. he would cry.  I listened to all kinds of advice, I read books, I prayed, I survivied.  Of everything we tried, the only thing that worked was to endure it.  So, what good was all the rest?  If we had to do it over, we'd probably exhaust all of the same avenues again, but probably just have to endure it again too.  All the support and advice availed us nothing.  We just had to keep trying things and find a few things that eased his pain a bit and then get through it.  I do have more sympathy for other parents with challenges though.  Something an easy baby doesn't teach you.

Then there's sleep.  Our babies have been consistently bad sleepers.  Light sleepers.  Wake-up-3-times-every-nap sleepers.  And no advice, tricks, methods, or books have been able to change that.  It's just been something that we have had to adapt to in our family as normal and act accordingly.

On the other hand, we've had good eaters.  Now they do think that Scorpion Sauce is "picy", and I have one boy who can't handle some textures, but overall they eat what we eat and they don't complain (very much!)  I can take no credit for this either.  It's just the way things are.

Lately my evening routine has consisted of nursing baby until she's full, taking her out into the sun room where I bounce gently on the rebounder for 5-10 minutes to get her burps up, and then go back and finish nursing her until she's finished.  Who would have told me about trying that routine in a parenting book?  But, it works.  If I try other things, she just cries and fusses.  If I try to end the nursing session early, she cries and fusses.  So, I do what makes the baby go to sleep, and that's what she likes!  People ask if she sleeps through the night.  No, she doesn't.  And I don't plan on her doing so for another year or more at least.  Because after 4 kids, it would be unrealistic to even dream about such a thing.  In fact, I don't plan on getting a full nights sleep ever again.  It'll be teenagers, and then menopause and then old age.  And none of those stages are good at getting a full nights sleep either.  And that's okay too. Because if there's one thing I've learned... you can get by on a lot less sleep than you think you can!  Your health may suffer, but you'll survive!

Our 3 year old has also been falling asleep on the living room floor after everyone goes to bed each night too.  And it's fine.  Because if he's in the bedroom, then he's pestering the older kids (and remember I'm endlessly nursing a baby at this time) and if he's in our room (where we have a little bedroll for him so he doesn't crash in on us when he awakes in the night) then he keeps Greg awake.  If he's alone in a room then he's lonely or gets into mischief, so, he falls asleep on the floor and then I move him to his bed when I go to bed.  And it's all okay.

Greg recently told me about a coworker of his who never had his own bedroom (or bed) during his whole childhood.  He was on the younger end of a large family (in America!) and slept on the couch his whole childhood.  And now he's a well-adjusted man now, doing fine.  This helped me be okay with doing what is best for right now, even if it is unconventional.  Sometimes I feel like I am doing my kids a disservice by keeping up certain standards, but sometimes I think I'm doing them a favor by doing the same things.  Make any sense?

All in all, most things are no big deal.  Do what works and change as necessary.  That's my advice.  Dr. Sears says, "Do whatever it takes to get the most people in the house the most sleep."  Yep, so true in many other categories too.

My Grandma Kurtti used to say (when you were out and about with a baby), "You're the Mom who goes home with that baby."  In other words, Mama knows best.  If Mama knows that baby hasn't had a nap or is fighting a cold or whatever, then Mama (and Dad) need to make the decisions accordingly.  Not everyone else who has an opinion but doesn't have to deal with the consequences of that decision.

Another thing she'd say was, "Babies do best at home".  I try to remember that, and God has also tried to teach me that, much as I'd like to run here, there and everywhere.