Dagyn Beannacht Mason

 Thanks everyone for the kind words and congrats!!  We are really enjoying our little guy!  On his 1 week birthday last night we all laid hands on him and thanked God for a safe birth, a healthy baby and for future health and happiness for him.

A minute or so after birth

 I have been informed (thanks KM) that I neglected to announce the name we chose for our little one! (bad Kelley, bad Kelley).  At about 2 days old we settled on Dagyn Beannacht.  

With his placenta, a few hours after birth

Dagyn is pronounced Day-gin (like Meagan).  There are many different ways you can spell it and apparently each spelling can also be pronounced differently.  This spelling is often pronounced like da-jin but that was a bit 'Sweedish' for us so we are sticking with pronouncing it our way.  The name is Hebrew for 'grain or wheat' or gaelic for 'dark haired'. Since neither of those applied to our Dagyn we went with the Gaelic word Beannacht, which means "blessing".  It is pronounced like Bannock but with a "t" at the end.

first bath, less than 1 day old

I have really enjoyed my week in bed!  I am pretty sad the week is over, it went by WAY too fast.  I loved just cuddling up with him and nursing and having everyone take care of me and bring me food (and we have SO much great food here . . . which is good because I am always very hungry and everything tastes SO good!!).  I plan to continue to take it easy for as long as possible.

We actually went out for the first time today.  We went by a friends house, the chiropractor, and to JoAnns so I could get some fabric to make him a baby blanket.  I usually love going out with my newborns and showing them off to people.  But I was really anxious to come home and crawl in bed and cuddle again.

1st picture of the family together . . . 1 day after birth

Hopefully this weekend I can get the new blog up and running, get some 'stills' off of the video camera and get the birth story (which is pretty much finished) posted.

It is March 10! Today is my EDD!

(been trying to post this all day, but my internet went out so it is going out a bit late).

I figured I'd still be pregnant today, but instead I have this . . . .

And if I were to still be pregnant, I suppose it would be something like this . . .

Still working on the birth story.  Just because the labor was shorter apparently doesn't mean my story is, LOL! For those of you who have read my birth stories, you know that they are like novels!  I am so long winded but I just want to make sure I get all my thoughts and feelings down so I don't forget them. 

I'll try to post more pictures soon though, assuming my internet doesn't crap out on me again, ugh.

Why I have been MIA most of the summer!

Aug 29,2010

12 1/2 wks with baby #6

With the 24/7 icky feeling (though thankfully a bit better than with the others) and the fact that most of my blogging and computer stuff is done after the kids are asleep, and the past 2 mo and that I have NOT been able to stay awake much past them (either that or I felt too sick to do work) the blog and many e-mails have been neglected!!

I am 13 wks though and starting to feel better and get some energy back so hopefully I can make up for it now!  My 'due date' is March 10th so I figure . . . sometime in March.  My edd's have been based on conception, and so far my babies have been 10, 6, 4, 3, days "late" and only 1 was 3 days "early" (not in that order).  Funny thing is they have all ranged from 7.12 to 8.4 lb (within 1/2 lb or so of each other) and have been from 21-22 3/4".  So not a huge amount of variation in when they decide to come or what size they are, LOL!! 

We don't use doppler or ultrasound unless I feel it is medically warranted, so I haven't heard the heartbeat, which was also the case with my last 3 kids. So it is hard for me to feel totally comfortable telling others till I feel regular movement or can pick up the heartbeat with a fetoscope (usually between 16-20 wks).  So I just have to trust that all is well and do what I can to keep track of how things are progressing.  I know my uterus has been growing just fine, which is a great sign.  I could feel it above my pubic bone by 6 wks this time and now it is at my belly button!!  This is MANY weeks higher than normal, but that is what happens when your uterus has been stretched out so many times! It was similar with my last 3 too (with #5 I could feel it above my pubic bone by 8 wks, so with each one it seems to be a bit sooner).  Just knowing it is growing at a regular rate is reassuring.  So that, and the fact that by 12 wks I could feel some movement at times when I poke around on my uterus (which I also noticed with the last 3) makes me hope that all is well.

Planning another homebirth of course, probably UC, but I like to play it by ear and decide during labor if I feel God leading me to call my midwife friend or not (so far the last 3 times I haven't felt like I needed her).  It is just SO nice to have that option and a blessing to have supportive friends.

Sooo, hopefully things can get back to normal a bit more around here since I am starting to feel a bit more normal too. There are so many things I want to blog about, I am just so long winded that it takes me forever do to a post, LOL!!  I have also considered breaking off and splitting the blog into 2.  Having just the Kozy part for Kozy related stuff and then another blog for all my other stuff.  If/when I do that though I'll let y'all know and make it easy to transition.

Let me whisper my last goodbyes . . . I know, it's serious!

I try to stay away from posting political stuff . . . mostly because I don't really enjoy debating it online (in person is a bit different . . . though I tend to get a bit worked up either way, LOL).  Being a born again Christian, you can probably guess what my political opinions are ;0)

So rather than waxing poetic about all my many thoughts on current events I will simply share some profound words from Queen Amidala . . .(wow, Star Wars . . . who knew it was so prophetic). 

"So this is how liberty dies . . . with thunderous applause"

If any of you ARE interested in political commentary from a Conservative Libertarian perspective, with a lot of wit and sarcasm, my husband Charlie has a great blog that is mostly political.  And I will say he is (and always has been) a very talented writer!  In fact much of what he writes is over my head, LOL!  (meaning my mom brain can't comprehend it without having to read it a 2nd or 3rd time, LOL).  So I prefer to leave the irrevrent, politically incorrect rants up to him . . . Virtue and Tyranny

I'm back!

Sorry I have been MIA for the past few weeks.  Get this . . . my "high speed" was out!  (note I put "high speed" in quotes, because calling it that is questionablee).  You know, I can function fine as long as the things around me function, but when my "high speed" goes out or the computer quits working . . . it is extremely frustrating . . . because I don't really have the time or mental energy to put towards fixing it, but I HAVE to have it!!  So for 2 wks I was using dial up, and with only 1 phone jack in the house . . . it was not only slow but difficult.  It is painfully slow, I mean surfing the net . . . forget it, and I am stuck in the kitchen where the phone jack is.

I use Hughesnet, which I have always hated, because their daily limits are so low that the kids can't even play online games without tripping the Fair Access Policy and then they shut me down for the day.  Oh plus the fact that I will have no signal for days if we have fog or anything (which we have a lot up here).  And I have had to call them numerous times for 'problems'.  But you know when you live in a remote area you are really limited to what you can use. 

So I ended up calling them, which I hate with a passion.  Basically I can never understand them which is fine unless you have background noise of kids, then it is me saying "excuse me, can you please say that again" like a million times!  I feel like my head is going to explode!!  I was on the phone for like an hour and 1/2.  I have to plan ahead, I had the kids upstairs playing and Thrace had just gone down for a nap.  Well with me gone he only stayed asleep for 20 min but he was fine and playing in the room with me so that was no problem.  But the kids only lasted 45 min (which was REALLY good for them) then they were in the room, being loud, trying to talk to me, climbing on the computer (that I am working on because they have me doing all this stuff on the computer to troubleshoot, redirect the signal etc.).  I must have told the guy to hold on like a dozen timw.  CRAZY!!  Basically they told me that they don't service my unit but they do service the upgraded one.  But I didn't upgrade because I didn't want to have to sign another 2 yr contract (I don't want to be stuck with them for 2 more years). So I could try to find someone locally to come out and see what the problem was (because we couldn't figure it out on the phone).  Ummm, I think NOT (not paying for that!)  They thought the dish was pointed wrong or something.  And I pay $60/mo for this!

Anyway so 2 wks I have NO signal at all.  Then a few days ago, out of the blue, it starts working again!!  It has gone off once since then for a day (it WAS foggy) but so far so good!!  So I am praying it keeps working, at least till we move.

Anyway during those 2 wks we tried a Sprint mobile hot spot (which is really a cool little device) but I couldn't get a signal up here anywhere in the house.  We could still try the Verizon mobile hot spot if my Hughes craps out again.  It also has a limit but if you go over they don't cut you off, just charge you more.  And it is wireless and will run 5 devices (you have to be within like 20-30 ft).  I really wished it worked because I really wanted to drop Hughes.  Ah well, at least I am back for now.

Blizzard of 2010 part 3

I know you may be getting tired of all my snow pictures (especially those of you who get a lot of snow like this) but I had to post just a few more.  This is totally historic for us!

We got another snow last night and today, on top of our almost 3 ft. from a few days ago. We are guessing it was around a foot or so but it was impossible to really measure it because it really was a blizzard!!  The wind is crazy!! (am listening to it blow around right now). All the trenches Charlie dug the other day are like 1/2 filled up, well some of them are all the way full of snow again.  And he spent hours digging out the cars the past 2 days only to have a bulk of the work undone by the blowing snow. . . I mean there is a wall in front of the truck again!!  We are up to like 100" of snow up here for the year!

 

This is our back door.  This was clear the day before (charlie dug it out, he dug the car out too, it was covered with the first snow).  Notice the pattern of the door on the snow!! 

This picture also shows how the snow was blowing around.  It wasn't snowing most of the day today, but the wind was blowing so hard that the snow on the ground was blowing around . . . and according to Charlie, it was painful when it hit you!  Needless to say, the kids did NOT go out and play today!

 This is our front door, the snow is pressed up against the glass outer door there and if you look at the bottom of the picture, you can see where some has actually migrated inside the house (we haven't opened the storm door yet, it was hard to open because it was blocked so much).  What is so interesting about this picture is that the porch there, where all the snow is, has a roof on it!!  So all that snow blew in there!!

This is our screen porch (that Charlie built BTW ;0).  Normally when you look out there you see the gray tile on the floor!  That is all covered with snow that blew through the screen.

This is the barn, the snow is about 1/2 way up the door there!!  Also, the middle board of the 3 board fence is completely covered!!

All this snow is kind of like an adventure.  Luckily we haven't lost power or anything and we have just been enjoying hanging out.  We have been making WAY too much junk food (cookies and stuff that we don't normally eat a lot of) but that is part of the fun!  Oh and snow cream!  

We have been putting wood floors in the bedroom (the last room we have to do) so we had mattresses out in the living room and stuff . . . the kids have been loving it. 

Blizzard of 2010 part 2

Here is an update from my previous post.
We figured the total snow fall at around 33-34".  We had to average because it was blowing around so much.  No place measured less than 30" but we had some spots that were 4 foot.  The stuff was blowing around a lot.

Piper trying to walk around

Piper and Arah in one of the many trenches Charlie dug around the house

Charlie built a fort.  The snow was so high that it was easy, all he had to do was dig into it.

The kids going inside

Piper and Ever and Littlefoot (or as I call him . . . LittleFat)

Arah

Xian

Charlie digging more trenches around the house

Playing in the trenches

Xian in his "home" that he dug out by hand

Thrace sitting in the trenches

Making another fort

Front yard

The view out our bedroom window

The bedroom window from outside

Blizzard of 2010

Well technically not a blizzard, but that is what they are calling it on the news. DC has reportedly the most snow in 90 yrs. We are northwest of DC and have over 30" so far from where Charlie measured in the middle of the yard, though some areas are much deeper . . . and it is STILL snowing (as you can see in these pix).  I want to take a picture of the kids out in the snow but I am probably going to wait till tomorrow when it has stopped snowing (so I can get the most accurate pictures).  Right now they are fine playing on the porch, since we have like a foot that has drifted there, but it is kind of impossible to play in snow that comes up to your waist!!
ETA: added more pictures in a new post HERE

Here are the pix from today, I'll get more tomorrow after it has finished snowing

The view out our side door

The view out the back door.  That large white mound in the back is THE CAR . . . completely covered!!

 

Here is the same door from the outside, and the lump again (to the left) which is the car completely covered!

 Same area of the yard, from the roof (notice the lump of a buried car again)

 

That is our truck (Ford Expedition)

Notice all the icicles on the house

  

The snow is up to the middle board on the 3 board fence

The swings are buried

Trying to shovel

Out in an opened area to measure the depth of the snow

You know we tried to get Ptolemy (the greyhound) to go out in the snow, and he usually loves running in it, but he was NOT interested this time.  I guess he is only like 27" at the shoulder (a pretty tall dog) but he would be covered in this snow.  Maybe if/when we all go out he will be more likely to run and play.

Misty Morning . . . God's handiwork

We live up on top of a mountain.  It isn't a huge mountain, around 2500 ft.  It is a pretty good climb up a narrow windy road though (which the neighborhood paves in the snow thank goodness!!).  We don't have a view from our house, we have 1 1/2 acres of completely flat land . . . it is totally flat at the very top, running the length of the mountain ridge.  But we have some great views driving up and down (and would have views across the street if someone were to buy those lots and clear them to build houses . . . I'd rather have the privacy though).  Oh we do have somewhat of a view from the middle of the field.

We are usually covered in fog up here when it is rainy, but on this particular day in mid Dec we were very clear, it was just a bit misty.  The fog was below us.

Charlie loves taking 'nature' photos, so he drove down the road and shot these with his little work camera.

 

 

There is a mountain range on the other side.

Normally you would see land or houses etc. down there where the fog is.

I thought it was gorgeous, looks almost like the sea.

God's amazing handiwork!!

Kozy has a new mascot!

OK so I know I have been MIA all week, but for good reason.

Well first of all I have been a bit under the weather, then we went to Hershey Park on Sat. We had so much fun!! (Ever was just tonight talking about the Truck Roller coaster that he wants to ride again). But I think my immune system took a hit that day. No wonder, I mean I was fighting a slight cold and then I go and walk for 11 hrs, wearing a baby the whole time, chasing kids around, and shocking my system on some pretty rockin coasters!!! (LOVE roller coasters!!). It is no wonder that I woke up on Sunday morning (OK it was around noon, LOL) feeling like crap!

But alas, that evening we still managed to make it out to pick up our new family member.

This is Ptolemy (pronounced tall-a-me). Well that is what we named him, (though Xian often calls him Tallster). His registered name is OJ Recap. He is a retired racing Greyhound and is 3 ½ yrs old and 75lbs. and has massive muscles . . . that apparently he will lose with time (though he should put on a bit more weight too).

We have been without a dog for over 2 yrs, which felt so weird. We got our first dog just months after getting married. I had researched Great Danes for a long time before getting Andromeda. She was gorgeous. Several months later we got Coesoig, an Irish Wolfhound from a Wolfhound rescue. They were both the same age. Great Danes and Wolfounds are the 2 largest breeds of dogs. We loved them, but unfortunately large breeds like them are not very long lived. Coesoig died at age 6 and Andromeda was about 8 1/2 . . . she died just a week before Christmas in 06, just a few weeks before Ever was born.

(Me and Charlie with Coesoig and Andromeda when they were 8mo old, this was '99)

We have wanted another dog since then but the time was never quite right. So we finally decided to take the plunge and get a rescue greyhound. We would love another Dane and Wolfhound (I am the Great Dane gal, Charlie loves the Wolfhounds) and will get them eventually, but there are more Greyhounds needing rescue and seeing as how they are large, but not as large (for reference, Andromeda was 34”, Coesoig was 36” and Ptolemy is only 27-28”) they are clean and shed very little, have fairly low energy, are really laid back and can be good with kids . . . it seemed like the logical choice right now (keeping up with the shedding hair of 2 giant dogs was overwhelming at times!!).

He is a sweetie. We saw several dogs but he was obviously the most laid back, the kids didn’t phase him and he wasn’t scared or hyper acting . . . so he was the obvious choice (not to mention he was our favorite color). He is still a bit timid right now, not sure what to make of things. He has spent his life in a crate only going out to potty and run. I am not even sure how much he got to walk in grass (because he seems to think it is really cool). These dogs have never been in houses and often times never seen kids, other animals or other dog breeds. So he was a bit timid going up and down stairs, he wasn’t sure about stuff like the sliding glass doors, and any noise makes him jump and then he will slide around on the wood floors, so sad.

He is used to being with other dogs 24/7 so he doesn’t like to be alone at all (even if we are all just in the next room). But slowly he is starting to act like a dog and come out of his shell. He has been coming around us more and he growled and barked at the cats tonight, LOL!! The kids love him. Greyhounds will often bolt at any moving object they see but Ptolemy is pretty good about not doing that so far (I guess he was ready to retire and isn’t anxious to start running again, LOL).

Xian likes walking him around outside. Arah follows him around the house constantly. Piper loves on him and likes to brush him and Ever keeps throwing things in his crate and bugging him while he eats (he practically puts his face in the bowl with the dog, though Ptolemy doesn’t care one bit . . . I said he was a good dog!!).

For more information about these dogs, check out The Greyhound Project

Rush and a Push

So we went out the other day to get the kids some stuff for soccer (they needed new shoes and stuff) and I got some beads and Michael's because I have some designs I wanted to play around with, and Charlie got some stuff to re-wire his necklace. Anyway, while we were out driving around I noticed that the gas hand on the Expedition was on empty. I told Charlie I was surprised he hadn’t gotten gas yet, because the last time I drove the car (down the mountain to take the kids to the lake like 2 days before) it was on empty then . . . and here we had been driving all around town too!! But he is pretty good at guessing when it needs gas (he knows how far below the E it can go, or so he thought). And it doesn’t phase me because growing up we ALWAYS waited till the gas hand was buried before getting gas.

For most of you who don’t know where we live. We live on top of a mountain, about 2500 ft. It is a neighborhood but most of the houses are at the bottom (there are only a handful at the top with us). We actually have an acre and ½ of FLAT land up there, because we are on the ridge and it is flat at the top. It takes us about 7 min to get to the bottom of the mountain and to the main road. There is a little gas station and store there, and then it is another like 8 miles to ‘town’ (walmart and the hospital etc.). So it takes us like 15 min to Walmart and about 25 min to everywhere else in town.

OK so we are now heading home. We are on the last stretch of road before we turn in to our neighborhood. It is all farmland and stuff for like 4 miles. So we are on the last mile or 2 and the car starts like surging and missing. I am sitting in the back (because Thrace was fussy) and I was like “ummm, Charlie, are you doing that?” and he said “no”. So I am thinking . . . great, our car is about to break down and we can’t all fit in any other car and in my mind I was going back and forth on how we were going to get the car to the mechanic because I can’t drive it with the kids because we have no way to get back because we can’t all fit in Charlies car and I was wondering which friend we could call to come help us take the car to get it fixed etc. (note the run on sentence because that is how it was playing in my mind, LOL). Then it hit me . . . ummm, duh, the gas is low. But we have NEVER run out of gas before!! So neither of us was sure if it was the gas or not, because it was doing this before (though I reminded Charlie that last time it was doing it was when the gas was low and we were like literally pulling into the gas station, LOL). I was mostly figuring that, you know, it is low so it is picking up some debris in the line or something which is causing it to miss or whatever. That is, until Charlie says “ummm, the car just cut out”!! Oh crap!

OK so we are coasting down the road. We are like ½ mile from the gas station but we can see it in the distance, and I am PRAYING it is just out of gas!! I am thinking . . . do we pull off now and walk to the gas station or do we risk cruising there and not making it off the road in time and blocking the whole road? There is a car behind us so Charlie puts on the hazards, but the stupid car never passed us. I tend to just kind of want to jump in and do something in these circumstances. So I am in the back and I figure . . . OK, Charlie can jump out and push and I can jump in the driver seat and steer, so I jump up between the seats (I am literally squatting on the console between the front seats) ready to jump in his seat . . . but he isn’t moving or anything and I realize that I just came up with this plan in my head and I never explained it to him, LOL!! So I thought “forget this, it would be easier for ME to jump out and push”.

Meanwhile the car is going slower and slower and slower but the gas station is right there! And that stupid car behind us is on our tail UGH. So I open my door in the back and tell Charlie that I will jump out and push, I mean we are really close to the gas station now. But then I look down at the road (and the car behind us) and I looked at my flip flops and the fact that I had a wrap tied around my body (a stretchy wrap because I was wearing Thrace in it and had just popped him out when we got in the car so it was still wrapped around me). I wasn’t too sure that jumping out of a moving car with flip flops on and all that extra fabric tied to me was a good idea. Not to mention the fact that since having kids, my balance hasn’t felt quite was it was like 10 yrs ago, LOL!! (those of you who have babies know what I am talking about!). I pretty much envisioned myself landing on the ground and immediately biting the dust!! So he is like “why aren’t you jumping out?” and I was like “you are going too fast” and he said “We are only doing 10 mph” but I assure him that when you are staring at moving pavement below you 10 mph looks very fast!!! So I wait a few more seconds for the car to slow down more (I think it was like 5mph at this point) and I jump out and start pushing (wondering what the people in the car on our butt are thinking, LOL). We are literally almost to the gas station, so I push the truck another 50 ft or so off of the road and into the parking lot and Charlie hits the breaks. We could not have timed it any better unless we had a few more seconds and could have coasted up to the pumps (I couldn’t push it anymore because it was a bit uphill and I mean . . . it is an Expedition . . . not a small vehicle and I am a wimp).

Charlie was like “OK now what do we do now” and I am thinking that we go inside, ask for a gas can, get a couple gallons of gas, put it in the car and try to crank it up. But before I could share my plan with him 2 guys come over and ask if we need a push (the gas station was not un-busy). I was like YES please!! They said that if the problem wasn’t that we were out of gas they had a rope in their car and could pull us to a parking spot or something. The pumps were only like another 100 ft from us. So I got in the drivers seat and Charlie went back with the 2 guys and they started pushing. Fortunately the car was lined up perfectly to be pushed right up to the pumps, which is good because I could hardly turn the wheel.

So they are pushing, s l o w l y, and I all of the sudden I see this swarm of guys running towards us at all sides. OK so it was only like 3-4 guys but it seemed like a scene from a movie and we were moving so slow it felt like slow motion. A guy comes running out of the store and over to help. Another gets out of a parked car to my right and runs over and an old man who was pumping gas on my left comes running over and they all join in the effort to push our big black truck up the incline to the gas pump, LOL!! I was laughing so hard I could hardly see!! OK so I was a little embarrassed too but it felt very good to have so many people wanting to help! And to think they couldn’t even see inside the car so they had no idea we had 5 kids (one being a baby) inside!!

So we get up to the pump, totally embarrassed, I tell them thank you as they all disperse and we start to put gas in the car. We are also laughing really hard, at, well, the whole situation!! I was hoping it would crank because that would save us tons of trouble, but a part of me was hoping it wouldn’t so we wouldn’t have been so stupid to run out of gas . . . for the first time ever!! We finish pumping, crank the car and it cranks right up, LOL!! OK so we are far from perfect at guessing when the car needed gas but at least we didn’t run out of gas on the side of the road with no gas station in sight . . . I mean some of these are country roads . . . how silly would we have felt then!!

On the drive up the mountain we were talking about it and how one acts when in a situation like that. I wanted to just “do” something and Charlie said that when the car cut off and we were just coasting down the road he had his foot pressed all the way down on the gas till the car came to a stop, LOL!! He knew in his logical mind that it wouldn’t help but he just couldn’t stop himself, LOL!! I guess that is instinct, I mean you want the car to move so you press down the gas . . . almost willing it to move LOL!!

When we got home I realized something . . . all these guys were at the back of our car, hands on the bumper, helping us out pushing the truck to the gas pumps, and what was staring them right in the face . . .

My lovely circumcision bumper sticker located just above the bumper in the middle of the car, LOL!! Of course it doesn't embarass me (or dh) but I sure hope none of them were embarassed by it, LOL!!

Of course had they looked up at the rest of the back of the car they would have seen this . . .

I hope all our Libertarian, Ron Paul, Palin stickers didn’t make them angry either (though seeing where we live, my guess would be that the larger number of them probably liked them. Yes, we are one of those crazy bumper sticker cars . . . though I only take credit for the Kozy and circ stickers, charlie added the other 3 :)

A few days later Charlie took the truck by himself to pick up a table, then the next day I took the kids to a friends house. I got in the car and where was the gas hand?? Sitting on empty (not above empty, but ON empty). Alas, looks like someone didn't learn his lesson? LOL!! Believe me, I made sure to stop and get gas at the bottom of the mountain. I do NOT need to run out of gas by myself with the car full of kids!!

When we pulled up to the pump Arah said “hey, this is where we ran out of gas and all those old people came to push the car” LOL!! OK so he sits on the left side and saw the old man running over so in his almost 5 yr old mind, we were being pushed by old people.

How cute is that!!