Okay, okay, so you are not tired of pay-it-forward updates yet. Contest-entering is way down (bloggers were emailing me saying, “Could you remind people again? because only, like, four people have entered even after you posted about it”) and so I thought maybe the blush was off the rose, if that’s the expression I want and I’m not at all sure that it is. Well, all right, never mind then, I’ll keep posting updates. I think I’ll start doing them once a week, on a weekend day maybe. Perhaps if they’re in a clump rather than scattered randomly, that will help?
Here are the promised before-and-after first-haircut photos of Henry:
Before
After
My friend May says it is time for updates on a few subjects.
Weaning: Done. We went gradually down to once a day and I wasn’t sure when that was going to stop, and then one day I woke up and felt Done With It, so I tried skipping it and Henry didn’t mind either, and so then we were done. That was about a month ago.
Hormones/emotions: I am a little berserk right now, I hope from the weaning and/or from the Pill I started this month, and not because this whole motherhood idea was a terrible mistake. I called the OB about switching to something else (other than the Pill, not other than motherhood), and the nurse said it often takes a few months to adjust to the hormones. Isn’t life just a CONSTANT MESS OF HORMONES when you’re female? There aren’t enough of them with pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, weaning, regular cycling, and menopause—no, we also add them for birth control.
Diet: Hee hee hee!
Whether I’ll be doing NaNoWriMo this year: I did NaNoWriMo two years ago when I was pregnant with Henry, and it turns out I dislike writing fiction, and also that I’m bad at it. Genuinely bad, not comically bad. But it was a great distraction from the queasiness at the time, and I recommend it as an absorbing activity for anyone who is trying to take their minds off something else.
Dining room: We got the flooring samples and we were like, “Hey, this is great! ANY of these would be good!” Then days went by, and uncertainty grew. Last night we spent some time looking online at projections of how various samples would look in fake houses, and we’re getting closer but also feeling even less certain.
How summer went with 5 at home: Sometimes it was total chaos, but I spun that to my advantage. For example, the younger kids lovvvvvve chaos, so if the two older boys were all giddy and crazy, I’d send them all to the playroom together. I’d shut the door and sink down into my computer chair. Ahhhhhhhh. Also, the big kids can be set to work. They’re like Roombas: they’re not very efficient, but they get the job done without me having to do the work.
Good idea about keeping the PIF updates together and on a weekend. I like that.
Adorable Henry! Is it just me or is he looking more like Edward every day?
And I loved hearing all the updates too. I often wonder about my bloggy friends and things left unsaid.
that roombas comment made me snorfle out loud. uh, and then quote it to my boss, who has 3 kids of her own.
Kids ARE like Roombas. So are husbands.
Wow, the haircut makes Henry look older. & to me, in that last profile picture he looks like Sundry’s Riley.
The diet update made me laugh out loud. And also, how can you still be questioning motherhood after the fifth kid? It’s so UNFAIR. Now I’m afraid I will NEVER BE HAPPY WITH MY DECISIONS, EVER.
I’m sure it’s just the angle (wink, wink), but man, that haircut made Henry age like 2 years. AHHH! Scary. So glad it’s just the angle.
I’m guessing that starting The Pill might be my answer for whether or not #6 is on the table… ha ha, on the table!… ahem.
Yes, hormones DO suck. Right now I’ve got this great combo going: “starting” to wean, recently had a miscarriage, recently had my first period after my miscarriage, insane jealousy of friends who just happen to be having babies around my former due date, husband starting an online masters program on top of his two jobs, 15-month old learning to throw fabulous temper tantrums… Ah, life, thou tormenteth me.
But hey, thanks for the props. I feel famous.
I can’t wait ’til Deven hits the Roomba phase. Right now, she’s more like a Roomba with reflux, trailing chaos behind her wherever she goes.
I don’t even want to address your comment about hormones except to add this: YES.
(Thanks for the weaning update.)
Henry totally looks like Edward now!
Try changing the brand of pill you’re on. I switched from nutbar to happy person overnight. The whole ‘it takes a couple months’ thing is a lie!
My boys are the opposite of Roombas: leave them in a tidy room, come back an hour later – can’t see the carpet any more.
I have to agree with bunnyslippers. That was exactly what I was going to say. I am really sensitive to anything that messes with my hormones, so BC pills have always made me crazy if they were too strong. And I knew within weeks whether I would be able to tolerate them. Even the mini-pills I was on while I nursed and pumped made me feel crazier than just postpartum hormones. But then once I pump-weaned and got on a low-dose regular pill, it’s the best I’ve ever had (ortho-tricyclen lo, if you’re curious.) No crazy mood swings, no crazy weight gain or break-outs or hair growth (all those have happened to me on the various pills I’ve tried in the last fifteen years. Anyway, all this is moot if you’re already on a low dose pill, but I would think that any other chemical birth control is only going to have MORE hormones. You could always go old-school with a diaphragm.
Kids! Like Roombas! How eloquent and perfectly true!
Clever girl.
When Henry’s older, you can use the same cloth and clothespin for an instant cape.
Love the update post!
I hate hormones! I stopped taking the pill over a year ago and have never been happier. Of course hubby wasn’t too happy as he had to go get fixed or have baby number 8. ;)
Cute pics!!
Also – hormones! You said is sista!
I’m going to ask my OB next time about switching to something other than motherhood. Thanks for the suggestion, sweetie.
Ha.
*…sigh…*
Henry looks so grown up with his hair cut! What a handsome guy he is!
Oh he looks like such a cute sweet MAN with his hair cut. It’s amazing how something so little makes them look so much older.
Annnnd I have to ask… I’m working with a foundation in my area that’s just been created to support kids 3-21 with special needs (see first blog entry from Monday). They’re putting together a cookbook as a fundraiser for it and currently have ~100 recipes and are looking to get over 700. Would you be willing to contribute your salty/mint brownies (or anything else) to the cookbook? See blog post for details — ditto if you know anyone else who has great recipes! Thanks for the consideration!
Amen and amen on the hormone thing. Preach it. And you know, I recently heard that many researchers believe an equivalent of the Pill would be possible to make for men, but, quote, “there would be no market for it.” *bangs head into brick wall repeatedly*
oh wow, he looks exactly like Edward in that “after” pic!
Not professing to know anything about you, but when I weaned D, I was batshit insane for at least 3 months during and after (I didn’t wean him, I mean, when he slowed down, and ESPECIALLY after he stopped for good.)
Henry looks adorable! I’m still impressed that you can cut hair (in addition to everything else!) :)
That is one awesome looking haircut and also a very grown-up looking boy. Gasp!
Hormones, sigh, I am still not back on the pill after having Michael because I’m just plain afraid of messing with my hormones even more. However, since we were told not to have any more children, I probably need to get over my fear and just take it already.
Your diet update made me snort. Sorry.
Ahh, weaning and hormones.
I had a full-blown breakdown after I started my daughter on solid food (that is how sensitive my screwy head is to hormone changes associated with weaning). Now I am happily medicated and slowly weaning my 11-month-old son.
It occurred to me over the weekend that the reason I have been a raving bitch for the last couple weeks is not because the pool closed, but because my boy is nursing less and less.
I wish I felt as good emotionally all the time as I feel when I am nursing a newborn (except without having to nurse a newborn).
Great haircut pics! He’s getting so big! Cute comment about the Roomba.
Can I just say “amen!” to those other posters who have called BS on the “it takes a couple of months” thing? Not that you want to go pill hopping or anything, but my own experience with BC has been: regular Ortho=crying jag; Ortho LO=awesome, no hormonal side effects; generic Ortho LO (apri-because my insurance jacked up the price on name brand)=crazy making.
So yeah, I really think certain brands work better for certain people.
And re: desperate housewife, my husband can’t even take a damn multivitamin every day. There’s no way he’d remember to take the pill. Oh, but I’m sure he could easily cope with having something injected into his arm or getting a shot every three months or having something implanted in his senstive man parts. bwahahahahahahahahahaha (joins you in banging head against wall)
Henry emailed me. He’d like some highlights next time. Or a faux hawk.
And if Kay McConaughey can write a book, come on. You’ve got it in you.
I don’t know why, but there’s something about seeing a baby in profile, with that little patch of thin skin at the temple that always just makes my heart crinkle.
I want to give a little kiss on that spot there.
Best things in this post:
“something other than motherhood”
“they’re like Roombas”
and the pictures of Henry! He is so, so cute!
what a cutie!!!
I made your chocolate mint brownies last night, except i tried for about a month to find those mint chips and NO LUCK so i eventually settled for using a mint chocolate bar, broken up into bits. OH MY GOD they were INSANE!! And it occurs to me . . . if that mint bar worked . . . why not try a chocolate orange bar? chocolate raspberry? I see LOTS of brownies in my future! :D THANK YOU for sharing your recipe!
HollyLynne- ZOMG. How big a mint chocolate bar? How big were the bits you broke it into? And how are we going to stop eating brownies?
I used this type of mint bar, so 3.5 oz: http://www.ghirardelli.com/products/chocbars_premier.aspx
I broke it into pieces as small as I could, which was hard becuase the insides were liquidy. There were 8 squares in that bar and I think I got about 6-8 pieces per square.
oooh . . . maybe i should try the caramel bar next?!
Oh my lord I want to smooch the freshly shorn baby head! Gah!
ooooh motherhood.
So. When I tried to stop nursing my son, Isaiah, my milk would not dry up! I later found out it was because my boobs bounced because we have suspended floors, and that it would make the milk drop…. who knew.
That Henry is sure a handsome boy. There’s nothing like a fresh haircut on the head of a boy.
Ah, the joys of being a woman. I find myself singing ‘It sucks being a woman.’ to the tune of Shania Twains song “Man, I feel like a woman.”
Your diet sounds like it’s going as well as mine. Hee-Hee!
Wow, I can’t believe summer is practically over.
Hope you have a nice Labor Day Swistle!
Henry! What a little man!
Yeah, that Roomba comment made me snort.
Love the new haircut! He’s such a cute little man!
Hi–as a lurker, I felt compelled to add my two cents to your birth control discussion. My lovely doctor finally mentioned (after the birth of my second, when I had been on anti-depressants after my first and was headed that way after my second was born) that I could try an IUD. They make them WITHOUT HORMONES. No kidding. It has changed me from total crazy nutjob into a nice person to be in the same room with. I will sing the praises of the IUD forever.
Just a thought.
Jennifer
I love the haircut.
Can’t blame you about NaNoWriMo.
Once you’ve made up your mind for SURE about baby #6, seems like you could place the whole birth control problem oh so happily in the husband’s hands!