Pity Party

Excerpts from my journal from a few weeks ago:

"I just don't know if I can handle another pregnancy...Perhaps it's the fatigue and lack of sleep talking ...having a newborn is probably the hardest stage for me. It always has been with each child. Having 3 children hasn't been easy. Especially when Vessel & Jacob are screaming or fighting and the baby is crying and I am exhausted. It's hard to feel like I'm being a good mom. It's hard to feel like I'm meeting the individual needs of my children when I'm so tired & impatient and when I'm trying to do so many things at once. I know this time of my life is only temporary. But it is a huge adjustment. I've had a few hard days. The hormonal roller-coaster hasn't been fun. I've cried a lot since the baby was born. I just don't understand why women have to go through all these crazy changes during and after pregnancy. And it being winter just makes it worse. Not being able to take the kids for walks, or go to the park, or the swimming pool. And this tiny apartment feels so confining and stuffy and sometimes I feel so claustrophobic here. I hate the feeling of being isolated. ...I want to be able to go out and do something on my own, but I feel tied down to the baby. I don't want that to sound bad, it just is what it is. I have to feed him, he relies on me for nourishment and comfort. I am the only one who seems to understand what he wants, or how he likes to be held, or what will calm him down when he's fussy. I feel like I can't be away from him. Maybe it's instinct we're born with that kicks in when we become mothers. An instinct that keeps us from abandoning our babies. Whatever it is, that feeling is strong. He needs me and I need him. And even though some days I feel like I am going to go totally bat crap crazy in this apartment and I need a break just to get away, if I do leave for even an hour to do my own thing, all I think about is the baby. I know he won't be a baby forever. But these next few months are going to be the hardest .....I feel so detached from everyone. During a time of such love and happiness with Christmas almost here, all I feel is a heavy, cold heart. I feel really far away from everyone and everything around me. I want to let go of this feeling, to set myself free from the grip of loneliness and sadness I feel. Is it just a matter of not giving into the sadness?"

Yes, for the last month I've been experiencing the "baby blues," if you will. I've kind of been struggling to stay afloat, just trying to get through each day and not fall apart. But, a couple of days ago while I was rocking the baby, I opened the Ensign and started reading this article. Go ahead, read it, it's a goody. This talk hit me pretty hard as I came to realize that the reason I was having such a hard time finding happiness was because I was focusing too much on the negative. Eyring says "We must ask in prayer that God, by the power of the Holy Ghost, will help us see our blessings clearly even in the midst of our trials. He can help us by the power of the Spirit to recognize and be grateful for blessings we take for granted." I don't think I have been sufficiently grateful. I know my trials are real for me, but things could be so much worse than they are. In reality, I have so much to be thankful for. Haven is a good baby and the boys have adjusted better than I thought. Jacob has been so sweet to the baby and doesn't act jealous or resentful at all. Vessel has been a good helper to me. There have been so many people willing and wanting to help out during this time. People have brought us meals and have offered to help watch the kids. Some friends have offered to take Vessel for a few hours so I could get some stuff done. My sister was so nice to drive up here and spend a week with me. Having her here was a godsend. She took the older boys out for a couple hours each day to get them out of the house. She was so helpful and without being asked, changed diapers, got the kids dressed in the morning, and prepared lunch for everyone. She did so much. And then my husband's parents came to visit for a week and they did just about everything from doing the dishes and laundry to taking the boys out so I could take a nap. They were amazing. More than amazing, actually.
Mike has been in Portland since Wednesday morning and I have had some severe anxiety knowing I'd be alone every night with the 3 kids. On a typical day I am comforted to know that I'm going to get some relief come 5 o'clock when Mike walks through the door. I was worried about the anxiety and loneliness I was going to feel every night, but I have been so lucky. My downstairs neighbor came up and stayed with me to keep me company for a couple hours and even brought me a plate of homemade candy. My dear friend came over Thursday night and had dinner with me and helped me while I got my kiddos ready for bed and then she just stayed and talked with me for awhile. That definitely cheered me up. Another friend invited me to her house for dinner last night. And yet another friend called me today and ended up going to the grocery store with me to help out with the kids. Plus a friend of mine picked up Vessel for preschool and dropped him off this past week so that I didn't have to. I feel so blessed at the outpouring of love so many people have shown me. It definitely makes me feel less alone and feel like there are people I can count if things get too hard.

For the past couple of weeks I allowed myself to become overwhelmed by my sadness and depression. Of course, the hormones and post pregnancy issues aren't completely resolved yet. But I know that Heavenly Father listens to and answers my prayers. Ever since reading Elder Eyring's words, I have been praying to feel more gratitude and it's actually helping. My burden feels lighter. I feel more capable of coping with my circumstances. I have a deeper desire of to serve others and to not focus so selfishly on my own problems. I am trying to embrace parenthood more and magnify my calling as wife and mother. I know the Spirit has touched me this week and I now feel GRATITUDE more than I have in a very long time.

Vessel's Drawings

Vessel had a nightmare. He wanted to draw me the ghostie that scared him out of his sleep.

The day I had baby Haven was the same day Vessel's class learned about babies at preschool. This is the face he drew on the his baby and it cracked me up.

A picture of the new baby with Mom and Dad. Mike looks like a hunchback.


In preschool the kids were supposed to draw something they were grateful for in this cornucopia. Vessel drew his "girlfriend" Yliana.

The Name Game

Mike and I really struggled to figure out a name for our 3rd child. It was like having Jacob all over again. Mike and I have such different ideas when it comes to what names sound good. It was so discouraging not being able to agree on a name for Jacob when he was born. I felt so strongly in my heart that he was meant to be Riven Jacob Bates. I loved Riven because it was unique and had a "v" in it like Vessel's name. I liked Jacob as a middle name because its a very Biblical name (just like Vessels middle name, Noah.) and also "normal," so if he ever wanted to fall back on his middle name, he could. I thought it would be nice to give all our kids unique first names, with common middle names (and/or religious/scriptural names.) But so much for that. We thought about using "Eleven" as a name for our third, of course, only if he was born on the eleventh (which he was.) It would've definitely been unique, but I couldn't really hear myself calling him "Eleven." I felt like Eleven would've been the perfect name if we had a girl because we could just call her "Eve" or "Evey," both names that Mike and I really love. I don't want it to sound like I wasn't excited to have another boy, because I was. It's just funny how Mike and I could agree on hundreds of girl names. A little ironic, eh? We also thought about using "November" as a name and calling him "Ember" for short. Ember was a name we considered last time when I was pregnant with Jacob. November is unique and suggests something about when he was born. But I couldn't get Mike totally on board with the idea. He thought "Eleven" or "November" would've been suitable for a middle name only. Mike liked the name "Elias" and when he told me about it, I liked it too. But I didn't want people to call him Eli for short. In the beginning I thought "Eleven Elias Bates" sounded great. Over time I agreed with Mike that Eleven was much better as a middle name. Turns out we never even used Eleven as part of our baby's name anyway. On the top of my list was "Adler" meaning "eagle" in Old German. I also liked the names Hawk, Rain, Riley, Nevata (meaning snowflake), Echo, Navarro, Baxley, Rylan, and Breckin. I couldn't say I was 100% in love with any of those names, however. I was grappling for something, ANYTHING, that Mike would agree on and that I could grow to love. And then while we were in the hospital after the baby was born, Mike was holding him and said, "What about Haven? He looks like a Haven to me." When I was in high school, our band performed a song called "Havendance" that was named after the composer's daughter. Ever since then I have always wanted to use the name Haven for my first born daughter. After the ultrasound confirmed we were having another boy, I thought that ship had sailed, and that I'd never get to use the name Haven. Mike said he was talking to a co-worker and she new a man named Haven. I big, strong cowboy of a man in fact. And then while looking through one of the name books we got from the library, I saw that Haven was listed under the boy section. Perhaps Haven wasn't as feminine as I thought it was. I considered Mike's proposal and it actually sounded perfect to me. As for the middle name, we decided on Elias because of it's scriptural reference. Wow, we actually both felt good about the name! And that's how Haven Elias Bates came to be.

Cuties

Here are some random shots of the kiddos from 2011...

The Fun We Have

My sister and I have had some good laughs. Riding around on her scooter going about 30mph wearing our "cool" sunglasses, while pregnant was one of those times that gave us a chuckle. I feel like we're re-enacting Dumb and Dumber.

People of Walmart

We saw this kid shopping in Walmart not too long ago. Mike tried to get his picture without him knowing, but he turned right as Mike was going to take a picture on his phone. So then Mike just asked the guy if he could get his photo because he thought his Oriental robe was "awesome." The kid was so flattered that he proudly posed for us and proceeded to tell us where we could get one for ourselves. :)

Baby Gramps

Hey everyone. I am no longer pregnant! Yay! So Baby Gramps has arrived. Okay, okay, we didn't end up naming him Graham Paul (although, that woulda been funny and cute...) We went through about 8 name books this time, and even scoured the dictionary for names. It was rough, lemme tell ya. The good news is that he has a name, unlike Jacob who was "Baby Boy" for about a week after his birth. We decided on the name Haven Elias Bates. He was born on his due date 11/11/11 at 12:27pm. He was 8lbs. 12oz. and 21 inches. Biggest baby of ours so far. The babies get progressively bigger with each pregnancy. Coincidentally I get bigger with each pregnancy too, psh.

So right now Mike and Vessel are at church and I just got Jacob and Haven down for naps, AT THE SAME TIME, no less. Nice work, mama. I am pretty brain dead on account of Haven not sleeping a wink last night. First night in the hospital he was a dream. Slept well, ate well, and barely made a peep. Last night Mike and I took turns holding him, rocking him, changing him, and feeding him. Well, Mike didn't do much in that last department, actually. :) This kid just wants to eat a lot. I'm sure he'll be happy when my milk comes in. TMI? I think he's gonna be the one baby of ours who takes to the pacifier like a fish takes to water. The others did not want to be pacified. Haven, apparently does. He's got a pretty bad oral fixation, I'll give him that. He's cute though. I can see he resembles the others a little, while still maintaining his own look. He's got a nice round noggin' and a little bit of dark brown hair on top. Big cheeks and the "Bates nose." So far, Jacob has not been so thrilled about baby Haven being here. He's curious, of course, but also very ambivalent and jealous and not wanting to share his mama. :( Vessel, on the other hand, has been super excited and very helpful.

So I've got a ton more to tell you all. Like the particulars of the birth and delivery, cos I know you all want to hear the juicy details (no pun intended.) I also have a name post lined up to publish soon. Right now I better get some rest of my own, while the 2 little hooligans are asleep. Here are some pictures to wrap this up:

SQUASH!

It was Halloween night and we had just gotten done trick-or-treating when Vessel reminded us that we never got a pumpkin to carve. We had planned to get one before Halloween, but with so much going on the week before, we never got around to it. So, we headed to the store to get a pumpkin for Vessel. After all, every kid needs to carve a jack-o-lantern for Halloween, right? But when we got to the store we soon found out that all the pumpkins were gone. So we had to improvise. We'd have to get a gourd of some kind, something big enough to carve. The only thing available that seemed big enough was this spaghetti squash. So we convinced Vessel it was way cooler than a pumpkin, and took it up front to purchase it. Well, we didn't end up carving it that night since it was so late by the time we got home. And the next day was pretty busy as well. Okay, to be honest, we didn't carve the thing until 4 days into November. I know, talk about crappy parent, huh? Well, at least we carved it. And it was difficult! The flesh of the squash was a lot harder. We broke 2 knives trying to cut it open and carve it's face. Scooping the guts out proved to be equally difficult because the top was so narrow I could barely get my hand in. But we did it. And Vessel was pleased as punch, which is all that really matters.

Broken knives

Halloween

My two superheroes.

Vessel's Birthday

This year we made a big deal of Vessel's birthday. He was so excited about it that he wouldn't stop talking about it several months prior to his actual birthday. At the beginning of October I made a chain from construction paper that he could cut a loop off of everyday to count down the days until the big day. It's the first year he's actually been excited about it, so we decided to throw him a 5 year birthday party. He wanted to have his party at the local arcade, Galaxy Games. So we invited his preschool pals and some of his other friends to have pizza and play games at the arcade. What could be more fun than playing video games, loading up on pizza and sugar, and having a costume contest?

Here is Vessel's cake. He wanted it to be Halloween-y.

The kids all gathered 'round to watch the cutting o' the cake.

Digging in!

This kid is such a "gamer," seriously.

Here he is with all his loot. He pretty much hit the jackpot this year when it comes to gifts.

If you look real closely you can see his milk mustache.