Hello, again.  I know it’s been a long time between posts, and I have finally been motivated to write again because, of course, I could use a little help.

Everything is going well, by the way.  The girls are doing their thing (Samantha has decided to start her terrible twos a few weeks early) and Craig is busy raising ruckus at Shaw, as usual.  All signs indicate that baby Oscar is doing just fine.  He is quite wiggly quite often.

But I’d like a few prayers about our birth.  I met a midwife on Thursday night who is willing to take me as a home birth patient if her back-up doctor is willing to sign me off as “low risk”.  Usually all VBACs are automatically “high risk” because of the 1% chance that the uterus could rupture along the C-section scar, but my scar has already held up once.  No one has asked (to the midwife’s knowledge, at least) to do a 2nd VBAC at home…so there is a glimmer of hope that I will be able to escape the hospital yet.

Plus, this would mean not having to drag me to Baton Rouge in labor, or the baby home from Baton Rouge afterward.  The back-up hospital would be Uptown, about 20 minutes away.  (And if it were really an emergency, there is another hospital about 5 minutes away.)  And I get one midwife to work with, rather than the carousel of six that are at the place I’m going in Baton Rouge right now.

So I’m excited and nervous waiting for this phone call.  Which may come to nothing, and even if it works out is going to be a bit of a struggle to pay for (with the insurance being very unhelpful, as usual), but would be very good for my blood pressure. : )

So, I’ve started a novena to St. Rita, because that was the one that looked good in the prayer book I had at hand, and if you’d care to join me in that or some other way, I’d really appreciate it.

And I’ll let you know as soon as I find out anything.  And put up a decent update, which I know has been sorely lacking.

“I didn’t feel good because I needed to go potty but I didn’t know how to go potty.  So I just had chicken since I was sick.”

Lucy partook of PBS this morning.  I’m not sure what she actually learned from Curious George (about recycling) and The Cat in the Hat (about tails), but it was better than watching the same Disney movies she usually watches at Nana and Papa’s house, I guess.

Today we went to mass at SJV and had donuts afterward.  Lucy is getting better at being quiet, although she still lets it be known that she is not really enjoying herself.  Samantha spent most of the time outside, since she kept throwing very noisy fits.

Lucy practiced drawing pumpkins with Mimi, and decorating them as family members.  It was very important that Dad and Uncle John have their glasses.

Samantha and I took a walk around the neighborhood.  The weather this week has been so beautiful, we had to get out again before the day was over.

After they brushed their teeth before bed, Lucy was standing in front of the medicine cabinet saying, “Goodnight, floss.  Goodnight, brush.  Goodnight, temperature (=thermometer).”  Samantha, of course, was repeating everything Lucy said.

Bedtime stories included Brother Juniper and The Song of Francis. Craig and Lucy were laughing out loud at Brother Juniper’s antics.

Ah, Saturday.  It was family day for a change.  We went to Lafrinere Park and walked around.  The girls and I toured the bird/nutria walk while Craig did some reading for his comps, and we had a picnic lunch on a park bench.

The rest of the day was spent driving in circles looking at properties between here and Baton Rouge, and with Mimi and B-Bob.  Pork roast was enjoyed by all.  🙂

Homeschooling journal:

Trip to the library this morning for fairy-tale books.  The castle was closed so the girls actually looked at books and did the coloring sheets instead of running around in it.

Lucy spent close to an hour sitting on the couch looking at (non-library) books before lunch.

We went to the Pax Christi peace liturgy – time for socialization, cookie sampling, music watching, saint statue and stained glass identifying, and liturgical experiencing.  Part of the evening is that everyone processes to the front to sign in a book that they pledge to live peacefully in the coming year, and Lucy signed her name.  And she actually tried to write it, not just draw a squiggle like she usually does.  There was a definite “L”, an upside-down “u”, about three attempts at a “c”, and finally a nice “y”.  I was very proud.  Samantha signed her name with a squiggle that looked like Lucy’s usual work, which was also impressive for her.  This is the first time Lucy has really attempted to write her name on her own like that.  So it was an exciting day, all in all.