We took a peek!

After much pondering, and going crazy trying to guess what this baby will be, I decided to get an ultrasound.

The first thing the ultrasound tech found was this baby's goods. Not very modest, I must say. He asked what we have at home. I told him 4 girls. He just started laughing. "Looks like you can just make that 5!" I couldn't believe it. Well, I could, but seriously?

Joe is such a great dad. He just said, "Hey, I love all of our little girls! I'm excited to have more love!" He really enjoys being king of his castle, with all of us girls hovering and loving him all the time.

I must say though, that I am starting to feel panicked like the old time queens feeling frantic about producing an heir. I am trained in biology, and that should set me mind at ease. IT'S NOT MY FAULT! but, I still have vague strange feelings about producing an heir nonetheless.

It's the Haws Curse. Joe's Haws grandparents have about a million grandchildren. Well, only like 65 I think. Of those, I think that there are 7 boys who carry the Haws name. Of those 7 boys, there are 13 great grandchildren so far, and only 3 boys to carry on the Haws name. Two of those 7 grandsons will probably not have children, and three have only had girls so far! (If any of the cousins are reading this, correct me if I'm wrong... it's a lot for an in-law to keep track of!) We just laugh about that.

5 girls. In 6 years. GO ME!

Good heavens!

New Years Resolutions

So, my camera is dead, and I can't find replacement batteries yet (as in, no I haven't gone through all of the batteries yet to find the camera ones, not as though they are impossible to find. i am sure they are in stores everywhere). Yet another post with no photographs of my cute kids. But coming soon, I promise. :)

A confession. When I read many blog posts at the beginning of the year about resolutions, I became overwhelmed. "Climb all local mountains higher than 1 mile high," "Live entirely on beans wheat and salt for a whole year, and make my family love it." "Lose the 5 pounds I gained when i had my fourth child (since I never gained any before)," "Scrub my floors with a toothbrush every Saturday," "Take my kids to every national monument twice, and write a book about each." OK, I will confess... these are exaggerated, but they seemed as reasonable to me as the ones I saw. As I read, they made me tired.

I made one goal. My New Years Resolution 2010: I WILL NOT GET PREGNANT.

Seemed reasonable. Simple. Attainable.

Oops. It lasted two weeks, and then we got the surprising, wonderful news. We are expecting Baby Haws Number 5.

In answer to FAQ:
Q: Are we crazy?
A: Of course we are!

Q: Did you plan that?
A: Of course not. How rude of you to ask.

Q: What are you going to do?
A: We have no idea. Just keep going.

Q: When will baby #5 be here?
A: Probably end of September.

Q: How do you feel about this?
A: We are thrilled. Nervous, but thrilled.

Q: How would you feel about 5 girls?
A: We could make another great movie about families of 5 girls, joining the ranks with "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Pride and Prejudice," and share our experiences marrying off 5 girls.

Q: What happens if it's a boy?
A: Joe breathes a big sigh of relief. The Haws name continues for another generation.

In the end, I have to thank Shannon, my sweet midwife. When I called to tell her the news (just 2 weeks after telling her there would be no baby this year), she said, with a big smile, "I guess God has other plans for you." That sums up how we feel. While it wasn't in our plans, we know it was in His, and we are happy to be part of His Great Plan.

Bedtime

It's 7:30, Time for jammies! Oh wait, uh... half of my kids are in their jammies. Because they are very obedient and got jammied themselves? Oh no. Because I didn't want to fight the battle, and 2 of 4 have been wearing their jammies all day. Exploring the backyard in feetie jammies and snow boots when it is definitely warm enough to put the snow boots away. Another battle I haven't fought.

Please tell me I'm not the only one.

The Lost Kitten

This is a story about Frances, our timid kitten. She is very careful, and very loving. Olivia got a new dolly stroller for her birthday. Frances, understanding that she would probably spend much time being swaddled inside it in future weeks, tried it out as soon as she saw it. Frances very rarely goes outside, and never goes out by herself. She sleeps with the kids every night.

Every night but Wednesday night. Wednesday night I heard some cat howling outside the front door and went to investigate (I have to mention here that Wednesday night was the only night that all four children slept through the night in 2 months, so I was not thrilled that the cats were crying outside). When I opened the front door, no cat came in. I saw two cats, but none came in, and I didn't wait or chase them down. I went to bed with two fleeting thoughts: kittens will come soon, or this is her first fight. You will be aghast at my callousness, but it was 2:30 AM, and I have four young children, and must therefor be excused for mid-night insensitivity to animals.

Thursday morning, I was hoping she would run in when Joe left for work. Nope. I was hoping she would cry at the door when the kids woke up. Nope. I hoped that she would come home before they noticed she was gone. Nope. I hoped they would just let the fact that she was missing pass without grief. Nope. By 10 AM, all three coherent girls were balling their eyes out.

I thought of a prayer. I told the girls that we should all kneel together and pray for Frances. I said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help Frances come home, and to take care of her if she was lost or hurt. I must confess that I didn't have a lot of hope, but I hoped that the prayer would distract the girls and calm them down. After we got up, they all said to me with tears in their eyes, "I know that Heavenly Father will help Frances come home." They had such sweet faith.

Then came my lesson. We went downstairs, and there she was, just running up to the back porch. The girls burst the door open and smothered her with love and kisses. Then we knelt down to say a prayer of thanks, and haven't lost her since.


This is a picture of Callie. She is so used to being carried around in small spaces, she prefers them now, and we find her asleep in tight spots like this frequently.

The ER

Yesterday I had to take Phoebe to the ER. She has had a cold, and it went to her lungs. She was really struggling to breath--her chest was sinking in with every breath, and her respiration rate was over 60 breaths a minute. So, nothing to do but go for help.

They were very nice, and very helpful. They took us right back to a room, and got Phoebe started on breathing treatment right away. It was nice because I was able to nurse her while I blew the nebulizer in her face, so she took it calmly. She was a champ! They all thought she was so cute, and were very impressed with her smile and her chub. When it was time for a chest X-Ray, she sat up like she was getting her picture taken. The tech was quite impressed that she didn't scream.

The RSV test was negative, and though she has a little spot that looks like pre-pneumonia on her lungs, she checked out OK. They gave us a prescription for antibiotics, a steroid, and an albuterol. We went back today for a follow-up, and she looks a million times better.

So, my homegrown baby had her first taste of the hospital, and did great! I am grateful for the wonders of modern medicine. While I don't believe in overusing the powers of medicine, I am glad and willing to use it when I need it. And now my baby can breathe.

Many prayers of gratitude for that. Amen.

Homemade Christmas

With a few old sheets, some fabric scraps, leftover crafting supplies, and some sute patterns, we had a very fun homemade Christmas this year. Thanks to the sales of some dolls I made, everyone got a store-bought gift too, so we had a great Christmas without going into debt! Although I realized after Christmas was over, that most people solve that problem by saving for Christmas. After 7 years, I figured out the secret, and plan to save all year for Christmas next year.

My cats make me want to say bad words.

This is a post about our cats. They are driving me crazy. Here is a list of irritating things about our cats:

1. They hate cat food. Come on, it's NutraNuggets! They are always eating our food. They climb into the sink to lick our plates, they knock the butter dish on the floor so it opens or breaks so they can eat the butter. They tear holes in trash bags to get to chicken carcasses. On the upside, I have to be very prompt and neat around the kitchen to avoid being driven INSANE!
2. They destroyed my Christmas Tree, and half of my decorations. On the upside, I had very few glass ornaments to wrap and put away this year.
3. They love to sleep with the girls. At first I thought, hey, as long as they don't sleep with me... But, the kids hate it too. I get cries in the middle of the night, "Get the cats! They are on my bed!" And then I spend half an hour in the dark trying to get the stupid cats from under beds or out of corners. Then, when I finally have cats in hand, the girls won't let me close their door! If I lock the cats in a room somewhere, they mess on the floor. If I put them outside, they come to the door meowing to be let in a few hours later.
4. They use a lot of toilet paper. Apparently, the nice beds we made out of sacrificed movie blankets are not soft enough. The cats unroll a whole roll at a time, and then make a bed out of it. I can wash my dishes, and I can take my chicken carcasses out, but I can't hide the toilet paper! We have too many girls who gotta have toilet paper.

Abigail said to me the other day, "Mom, we should get rid of the cats. They mess a lot of things up." I told her that now they are part of the family, and we have to take the good with the bad. And, I must confess that seeing a cat patiently being wrapped in blankets and wheeled around in a dolly buggy all afternoon gives me a tender spot. So, while they make me want to swear frequently (for those of you who know me well, know that is a BIG DEAL!), they will be here a long time.

Until we have a chance to get them fixed, I am just praying that we don't end up with kittens. Heaven Help US!