The Oxford Family

Monday, December 13, 2010

Karly's 12th birthday

Can you believe she is 12?!?! I seriously have no idea where the last 12 years have gone! She has grown up so much in the last year or two. She is doing great in school as usual! She has the second highest GPA in her team (6th grade is split into 3 or 4 teams), is still playing cello, doing ballet, and is getting into boys! Did anyone else just feel like they may throw up or is it just me? Yuck, for boys! I am so not ready for this phase. Karly is a little bitter that she is the only one that isn't allowed to "date", especially since "dating" really doesn't mean anything other than you say it but o'well. I am not ready for the drama that comes with boys. The boys aren't even my concern...it's the evil girl drama that will no doubt come with it.

I was due with Baby O 9 days after Karly's birthday and she was very concerned that she would have to share her day. I wasn't really up to throwing a full blown party so we just did cake and presents at the house this year and perhaps we'll have a party in the spring or summer as a late birthday/just for fun party.

Happy Birthday Karly! We love you!

Now stop growing up!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Karly's Christmas Cello Performance

December 7 Karly had her 2nd cello performance. They played a few Christmas carols and got us all in the holiday spirit. This time they played at the little convention center...yeah, they are big time ;) Sawyer wanted to go on stage and help Karly thank goodness my mom came along to help wrangle him! (Chris had to work)

I couldn't be more proud of my little cellist!

Enjoy!

PLEASE let me go play with my sister!

Dexter's first real bath

So I am a little late in posting this...story of my life.

I guess maybe at this point it’s considered normal or on time and not really late anymore.

Dexter’s first real bath. I know a lot of people don’t give their babies real baths for the first few weeks, but nothing is better than a fresh smelling baby. Soooo, when I tell you that Dex didn’t get his first bath until he was SIXTEEN days old, yes 16 I say it with a little shame. Of course we had to wait for his belly button and man parts to heal before tub time. His belly button finally fell off but not all of it, so the doctor treated it with a little silver nitrate which caused an oozy gross mess. I was a little worried about getting it wet so I waited until it looked less nasty. Once he was completely immersible I was sick and not up to the whole first bath experience. So a few days later we finally had our first bath! Let me tell you...he actually didn’t mind it! Most babies seem to scream through the entire thing but I think I have learned the trick. WARM WATER, like warmer than most people think. I think those little babes get cold and upset! I have always used warmer than normal and my kids are happy bath babies.

Check him out!

Yes, he is getting a bath in a bowl. Why?

Well, I thought I saved the baby tub but I guess not. I have a slingy chair thingy that goes in the big tub but it seemed like too much effort for a 2 minute bath. Or I could just say he is my 3rd and the tub isn’t that important to me when the bowl does the trick! Dex loves the bowl! It’s deep enough that it’s probably womb like (warm and wet) and he doesn’t move around too much. Yep, he is a happy little bath boy!

Why everyone should hire a photographer for their birth

Seriously. I feel so strongly about this that I am devoting a blog to it. That probably seems a little weird, but what an amazing day and most of us settle for half ass pictures or whatever pictures our family and friends can snap. When I was pregnant with Sawyer I wanted to hire a doula that also did photography. Chris never warmed up to the idea and I will admit while I was disappointed I let it go. Chris and the medical staff were the only ones in the delivery room and while it was exactly what I wanted looking back, I know it was a lot of pressure for Chris. Not only was he experiencing birth for the first time, his first child, being a support person for me and then I hand him a camera and tell him he better not miss out on getting good pictures. Wow, no pressure there. So while he is counting and breathing with me, trying to hold a leg, waiting and watching for a glimpse of his first son he is also wrestling a camera and probably going back and forth between experiencing and being in the moment and trying to get pictures. Fast forward to this pregnancy...I knew there would be a better way. Having become friends with Ciara over the past year or so Chris seemed more ok with the idea. He was sort of like well, it’s your body all out there and if you are ok with it then it’s great. I am not sure if it’s because this was his second go round so he knew what to expect or that there was less pressure on him but he was so much more supportive and much less intense. Perhaps it was a combination of both.

Ciara was amazing! I went into this totally ready and no worries...then as it got closer I will admit I was a little nervous about having a photographer in the room. I mean birth is probably one of, if not the most raw and intimate experiences in our lives. Would I be comfortable in front of her?? What if I yelled and lost control in front of her (which I totally did)??? Would she think I was a super freak?? Then I started to think...she is a professional...this is her job. Not to toss in the fact that she is also a woman and a mom that has delivered 3 babies of her own. When it came down to it I was not only comfortable with her there but I honestly forgot she was there! She sprang to my rescue with some gum I was desperate for. Occasionally I apologized for my crazy outbursts which she assured me I was being totally sane...what a sweet girl she is ;) and other than when I looked for her she just snapped away. She took pictures of things most of us wouldn’t think to shoot, the machines, the environment, stuff us normal people don’t think to take pictures of but I love that she did! The fire alarm went off when I was pushing (I had no idea it was the fire alarm) and for a split second I thought DAMN that girls flash is bright! ha ha, yeah it was the alarm on the wall! She hung out for awhile to be sure to get some pictures of our first moments as a family. I honestly can’t speak highly enough of Ciara or my experience.

We hire photographers once or twice a year for family photos, we pay hundreds and even thousands for wedding photos and we totally forget about our births! What’s the deal?!?! Not that I am having any more babies BUT if I did I would definitely do the same. I will recommend it to all of my friends and families! I even think it would be an amazing gift for a baby shower!

I will not only cherish the photographs forever, but the experience of being able to completely trust someone else to take care of this so that Chris and I could focus on the birth of our 3rd baby was completely priceless.