A Different List for Expecting Parents

When I was pregnant with my first child, I had no idea what was in store for me. Does anybody, though? Isn't that where the term, ignorance is bliss came from?

I think if any of us had a clue, we'd probably freak out and convince ourselves that having children was completely a terrible, horrible idea. And that would kinda go against the whole procreation thing mother nature instills in us, right?

I've never been a full-time nanny, but I can only assume that is the only job that may actually prepare you well enough for parenthood. I bet these nannies get thrown up on, awakened in the middle of the night, function on little sleep, drive kids around town, cook meals, clean up meals, pick out clothes before bath time, help brush teeth and tuck in the sweeties, just to name a few.

For the rest of us who never nannied (you're right, that's probably not a real word) a day in our life, we remain clueless. Well, listen up because I'm about to demystify the whole parenting thing. Here is a list of several things you can do in order to prepare yourself for parenthood. And please keep in mind, these are only the things that are off the top of my head. There are many other tasks you could do to ease the transition from childless to childfull (I don't know, that word just seemed right, and I use word here loosely).

~ Start throwing things around your house so that they land scattered about--like there's no rhyme or reason why a particular item is in a particular spot. Leave objects is random spots throughout house for days on end.

~Spend a good portion of your income on food. Prepare that food in yummy, deliciously creative ways. Serve several plates worth of yummy food you slaved over. Take two bites from each plate. Toss the remaining food in the trash.

~Make a new tradition for Friday night--skip happy hour at the bar. Instead, stay home and turn on Dora. For background noise, have a recording of a screaming baby and a few toddlers/preschoolers talking noisily.

~Stop vacationing NOW! Or better yet, get in any vacation while you still can. Even though you may still be able to travel when baby arrives, it'll be completely different. I suggest that after you dine on your noon meal, you head back to your room and sit around quietly, for several hours. This will give you an idea of what nap time on the road is like--well, sorta!

~Get rid of all clocks in your house-- in fact, don't look at anything that will tell you what time it is; just use the sky as your time guide. When you bring a newborn home, you will completely lose track of time because you are up every couple hours--that is when you're actually getting sleep.

~Start pushing a stroller around the mall, your neighborhood, or anywhere you choose to walk. There will probably be stares, but that's typical!

~When you reintroduce clocks into your life, make sure you set the alarm to wake you at least 2 times at night. Not all kiddos wake 2 times each night, but when you average the sleepers with the constant wakers, I think 2 times seems appropriate.

~Just buy that darn minivan. Most of you will end up with one anyway. Yep, I know they're not cool, but neither is cramming your family into a tiny car--that gets real annoying!

~ Ummm... there are plenty of ways I could tell you to get ready for being pooped, peed, thrown-up and spit up on... but I'm going to let your imaginations figure out how to simulate that one!

~ Next time you go out to eat, visit the restroom several times--as if your bladder were the size of a pea.

~ Have lots of food fights and make sure the food lands on your clothes. Get the stains rubbed in well and let them sit in your hamper for several days. Then curse the bloody, stubborn food stain that's set on your clothes all week while you were busy with all the other chores!

~Spend quality time at a number of parks, just sitting on a bench watching kids play. Hopefully, nobody will turn you in for loitering or creeping out little ones (or their parents). Make sure you do this even when its 96 or 56 degrees out.

That should cover several, though not all, areas of child-rearing. Of course there are many more things to look forward to with delight when you bring a little baby home and raise him or her, but those are all things we ALL think about.

Most of us try to imagine our baby's first words, first steps, first school day, graduation and possibly even their wedding day. But who tries to imagine the ins and outs of everyday life--the logistics, if you will?

I know I never sat around with my pregnant, swollen feet propped up wondering about all the real stuff taking place in homes where children live. And even if I would have tried to wrap my brain around it, I don't know how accurate it would be. I probably would have exaggerated any truth and made it worse than it would ever be. I can only assume this to be true!

And I'll end on and even more positive note...

all the things you do dream about whilst resting those sore, swollen feet---

things like his first smile, hearing her say 'mama' or 'dada' or 'I love you,' his eyes meeting yours for the first time, her first day of school--

those are the things you really remember. Those are the milestones that make a mark on your heart and make the rest of real life worth every moment.

Some of our Week In Reverse Review

Well, this has been yet another exciting week in Copeland family.

You wanna hear something funny? Earlier this week we found out that between Boushka's hospital stay in January, all the testing late in my pregnancy, our original or what I call our "fake" induction, the birth of Little K and my upcoming foot surgery we met our deductible. So, to be funny, I posted on facebook earlier this week

We met our deductible, now what...

And I immediately had a friend (Yes, you Traci) basically warn me that I'd opened Pandora's box... and apparently I did.

No, nothing medical is going on (thank God, seriously). But we had some stuff happen today that involves our home insurance... or should I say, it better involve our home insurance. We put a call in to our guy, but it's Sunday night so we obviously haven't heard anything yet. But this is some of the damage.

(That's our fence, totally blown down by a microburst)


I was standing at our kitchen window, which overlooks this part of our yard, when I heard and saw the wind really pick up! Having lived in Kansas my whole life, I'd never heard or seen anything like what I did tonight. All of a sudden the wind was insanely strong and it startled me enough to actually shut our windows.

(Pieces, that look oh so dangerous to be in a back yard that belongs to little kids, of our fence)


As I was closing the window above our sink, I saw our fence fall to the ground. I had Little K in my arms, and I have no idea how long my mouth was opened in shock. Next thing I know I'm screaming MATT! MATT! OUR FENCE!

(This is our fence, and it used to hold our dogs in our yard.)

You'd have to ask him, but I think my words didn't even make sense at first. I was yelling and the baby was crying, and our other kids began to cry, and our dogs were barking, and the wind was howling... so I don't even know if Matt hear me not make sense!

(Yep, it took our mailbox too!)

Luckily he ran outside and grabbed our two BIG DOGS as I struggled to grab our Bug and ever-defiant Boushka so we could head to the basement. The older two girls started for the basement upon hearing me scream and yell for Matt. And Little K remained in my arms. I think my mind was thinking Tornado, but I really couldn't tell you. I was most certainly on survival auto-pilot.

(You can see our mailbox down in the bottom right corner. And across the street you see a tree snapped in half)


Having been raised a Kansan, tornado drills are ingrained in my brain! I'm not sure the yelling and screaming was ever taught during a tornado drill... but I know the grab your loved ones and hit the basement routine certainly was!

(The view from our deck looking out at the damage caused by the microburst. Apparently there are lots of fences on our part of town that look similar. There's even rumor of a roof blown off a building just blocks from us)

By the time we made it to the basement, it was all over. The wind died down to a reasonable 40 mph and I headed upstairs to grab my camera. My curiosity definetly got the better of me and I was dying to take pictures. Then I remembered I was actually doing the smart thing since our adjuster would need to see this disaster! Again, I'm not so sure this is taught during tornado drills, but I know all tornado-alley dwellers love to photograph a good storm, or the aftermath. It's born in us!

Just minutes before this ugliness hit, my family and I were enjoying the sun while dining on our grilled chicken salad.

And just hours before, I was in our back yard snapping these photos.



You know, because at this point in the day it was 92 degrees. And now at 10pm its in the 50's and dropping.

On to other fun happenings...

We also had a soccer game yesterday. Peach is number 1!

My Peach sure does enjoy running the field and chasing that ball.
We tell her to be like Edie (our young, but BIG dog), translation: BE AGGRESSIVE! We don't mean to be aggressive with the other players, but we tell her to get after that ball. And she sure tries!

We also ventured out to Lowe's to see if there's some kind of solution for us to have a garden in a yard with two big dogs and not much sun. We did find some things that my husband began installing today, but I don't even know if it's still there after this microburst (that's what the meteorologist called it). Maybe I can snap some photos tomorrow and you all who know anything about gardening can give me some tips.

More fun...

On Friday we did Kindergarten round up. I still can't believe my sweet first-born babe is ready for Kindergarten.
I did have some tears form in the corner of my eyes, okay lots of times I had tears form in the corner of my eyes-- but the point is that I didn't let it all go.

I mean, I totally could have.

I could have made a mess out of myself that day.

I just kept picturing an actual picture I have of her lying on my shoulder when she wasn't even a day old yet. And I kept thinking, how did that tiny, helpless, perfect little girl grow up right before my eyes into a Kindergartner?

That thought right there---it's what made me want to turn my done up face into a HOT MESS!

In fact, it's turning my face right now (which is already showing the stress of the day) into a LUKE-WARM MESS! But that's okay, no one but the baby is around---and even she's asleep on my chest!

And on to our last topic of this post...

SHOES! Did you know that when you have 5 girls, some who like shoes and some who absolutely LOVE shoes, the shoes in your house pile up... or in this case


they pile across. Because I can't pile them up in a tower formation; they'd probably tumble. There are 60 some odd pairs here, and this is about 2/3 of the total amount of kid shoes we own. And I'm sure you guessed it-- the only boy in the house (DADDY) took this photo out of pure shock. He was a bit awe struck! By the way, just thought I'd add that I don't typically round up all of our shoes and photograph them. I knew we were in serious need of getting all shoes in one spot, matching them, and then giving them to the proper kiddos. This was the inventory I took in order to figure out what shoes we need for the upcoming season. Anyway...

And now that I've reviewed some of the past week in reverse, can we all just shout a little prayer (or as it turns out 4 little prayers) up to the heavens for me, please?

1. Pray I don't talk about deductibles anymore!

2. Pray that while my husband is out of town this week I don't completely poke my eyes out in one of my anxiety attacks... I think I'll need them so I can drive the kids around town and check my make up before leaving the house in the morning.

3. Pray that if I find anymore shoes, I don't just toss them out the window because I've given up. By the way, eyes would come in handy (see #2) here so I can sort shoes, of course!

And...

4. Pray that if I do poke my eyes out in an anxiety attack this week, I won't recall anymore pictures from my babies' newborn days or think about any of them leaving me EVER. Because we know I'll cry myself into a HOT MESS and I won't have the eyesight to re-do my make up.

Okay, so if you can shout those up to the blessed heavens, I'd be much appreciative--oh, and my kids would be too. They don't need a mommy with her eyes poked out-- at least not until their Daddy returns!

Guess Who is One Month Old

Happy One Month Birthday to my Sweet, Sweet Girl!

At this time in life you are just an amazing little person.

You are tiny.



You are sweet.

You smell like the fondest memory I'll ever keep.

You started smiling at 3.5 weeks old--yes, a real smile!!

You smiled at me first,

then at dad!

You wear a size 1 diaper.

You sleep off and on during the day.



You are fussy at night--usually some tummy troubles.

You fuss at night when we lay you down in your play yard for bed,

but you settle right down as soon as you are placed in daddy's arms.

You do not like hats!


Your sisters still adore holding you!

Little K, you are the perfect reminder of all the good in the world. Your mere presence in my arms lifts any sorrow, pain, or sadness I may feel. I adore our midnight time together since that seems to be the only time we are peacefully connecting--without distractions from chores, t.v., a (sweet) sister, the phone, the computer or any kind of a schedule.

Just like each one of your sisters, I have the biggest dreams for you--and I hope and pray that one day you too will have big dreams for yourself. This is a big world, and I know you will find your place in it. For now, I'm happy to have you as the baby in our world. And I wish (like I do every time there's a newborn in the house) that I could just keep you this way for much longer than is possible.

And I know that time will pass and you will grow, but I will still be your mom. And that is the best thing in the world-- to be your (and your sisters') mom!

Loving and Loathing in Postpartum

So many emotions have been fluttering around me lately. I know it's probably all (or mostly) due to recently having a baby, and I must say that I despise this part. The postpartum part. I pretty much hate everything about it.

--The leaky faucet feeling--please tell me you know what I'm talking about (and if not... night sweats, nursing, crying etc., etc.)
-- Trying to adjust to the new schedule
--Dealing with fat thoughts and wanting so badly to be back in your normal clothes since that cute belly is no longer hanging out
-- Missing the cute belly
--Healing from delivery
--Not sleeping
-- Dealing with every pain that comes with nursing a newborn--and then dealing with the side effects of pain control meds
-- Trying to handle the demands of your possessive and tantrum-throwing toddler.
--Never seeing your husband because he's sleeping when you're not and vice versa (so he can help with baby in the night)
-- Trying to be on time to anything!!
--Feeling alone

I do, however, enjoy the fact that I can be on my feet longer than an hour now without cringing in pain. And bending over is much easier now! And all nausea has disappeared. And my face isn't so swollen. But other than these things, I am not in love with these post-postpartum issues!

Don't get me wrong, this sweet little person who is currently snoring on my chest is totally worth every ache, pain, and struggle with our new schedule. But sometimes I would gladly hand her over (to trusted, caring hands) just so I could sleep for 6 straight hours. But then I'd want her back... snoring on my chest for 6 hours :)

Or I wish I could take a day off from nursing, give her formula, and then pick back up with nursing without any negative consequences--think mastitis-- OUCH!

Hmmmm, it might be nice to have 15 minutes of talk time with Matt---we have to be coherent and we can't talk about kids, finances, or how much we miss sleep.

God, how I wish I could convince Boushka that she's still my baby and that she doesn't need to act out and cry for 90 minute stretches 4 times a day!

Ahhhh, a girl can dream, right?

I know this is a season in life-- a season in my life and I will walk through it as I have four previous times. It obviously was never too much to handle, otherwise I would have just one child and not 5. Thank goodness I was always able to get over it; my life would be utterly boring without all these tiny people pulling on my leg and asking me 1000 questions everyday.

I'll end on that positive note. And now I'm going to go to bed praying that good sleep falls on the 7 of us tonight!

Happy Three Week Birthday

You are three weeks old today, sweet baby girl!

(I love this picture; it looks like you're smiling and giving a thumbs up)

There's no doubting that you have filled our hearts and our home with love and joy.

Your sisters can't help but love on you. Several times a day they ask and beg to hold you. I'm this close to creating a schedule for everyone. Yes, it's that serious :-)

As the days pass and I get to look at you more and more, I see your looks starting to come out.

You look a lot like one of your number one fans, Brownie. Your eyes and bits of your mouth are very similar to those of Miss Brownie. And sometimes your mouth looks a lot like Bug's. And I'm still debating on whether your nose is more Bug's or Peach's. Your hairline is definitely Bug's.

And just when I thought you were going to have dark hair (that would probably turn dirty blond by your second year), I started seeing hints of red undertones. So who knows; I suppose the jury is still out on your hair color.

I took you to the doctor today because you've had a cough since Saturday evening. I thought a stuffy nose that started to drain was the suspect, but I didn't want to chance it with my sweet newborn.

So off we went to see the doc. We were there last Monday for your two week check up, and at that point you weighed 7lbs 13 oz. I'm confident after your feeding that immediately followed your weigh in, you gained the 2 oz you needed to be back at your birth weight of 7lbs 15 oz.

And today you weighed 8lbs 7 oz. Amazing! And to think, that according to me, your eating had slowed since getting your cough. I guess not!!!

The doctor said she thought your cough was due to some drainage. I'm so glad--maybe we can make March the month where we don't visit a hospital for several days!

We were given some saline drops and instructed to continue to suck the snot out of your nose. Yeah, this is NOT your favorite activity, but I'm sure it'll help your cough. So do it, we will!

As far as your schedule goes, you're still sleeping quite a bit. I'm very impressed with how well you sleep during the night. For a week or two you were sleeping from 12am-5am, and now you are getting up a little more during the night. But I think that's due to your little illness. You've been sleeping very well in the morning too. And this is a good thing since we are usually running your sisters around town all morning long!

You are a champ nurser. You have been from the get-go. I'm getting better at getting you full, but for the first several nights we had to top you off with formula right before bed---I think this helped us get those nice 5 hours of sleep. As for the daytime, you eat once or twice between waking up and leaving the house around 8:30. Then you eat again around lunch time---and you eat every 1-2 hours until you go to bed around 11 or midnight.

You do enjoy being held ( A LOT), and you adore your swing. That's where you spend your sleeping hours during the day when somebody is not holding you. You've enjoyed some time on your tummy mat and in your glider too. And if you need to be calmed down, we swaddle you. There is nothing sweeter than a swaddled little girl snuggled up in my arms. LOVE IT!

And despite the fact that you have several hair accessories, I've been slacking in that department. In the morning rush, I never seem to be able to get the accessories on you. I just need to turn that one over to Brownie--she'll be great for that job!

Thank you, Little K, for adding to our lives. Sure, we had joy and love filling our home before you were born, but you multiplied it exponentially. You've added a sweet new element to this little family of ours. The little noises you make, the way you follow my eyes and stare at my smile, and the peaceful look on your face as you drift off to sleep--- I love them all. And I love you sweet three-week-old girl!

Some Ramblings

It seems that the past three+ weeks have been mostly about baby. While she is the newest, hottest toy of the season, we do have four other darlings who are still cute (and oh so ornery)!!


Other than kissing on their newest sister, they are up to much of the same ol' tricks they enjoyed before Little K came home.

It's been pleasant and sunny around these parts, but that doesn't mean we play outside all day (though I do get that request every other minute or so). So there is some TV watching going on, but what I can I say... it buys me time when I need to nurse. Did I mention it totally occupies Boushka who would otherwise be up and down the stairs, in the kitchen cupboards, playing with the toilet paper or doing God only knows what!!! And at least they still act so sisterly sweet while partaking in lazy (lack of) activity.

I am here to blog about what those four older cuties I gave birth to have been up to, but it still involves a lot of this little baby. What can I say... they're certainly smitten! We all got bit by the Little K bug! In fact, one at a time they've come up to me totally unsolicited just to say, Mom, I think we should have one more. HA!! WE??? I see we need to have some major talks about just exactly who it is around here that continues to run this house while growing baby after baby! There's not much WE about it... I digress...

But when you look at these faces, I suppose it would be easy to say, Sure honey, let's have 10 more! But thank goodness these faces are only a glimpse of our reality. Sure they make me laugh, they make me smile, they warm my soul and give me the biggest purpose ever for being on this planet--BUT I'm so incredibly knee deep in constant diaper changes, no sleep, messy house, etc., etc. that I can't fathom the discussion for another child. So sorry dears, we'll have none of that ANOTHER BABY talk around here for quite some time, please!!

But...OH! Seriously! I just feel the pure joy oozing from this picture. And that's what she (and her four sisters) are-- pure joy---like 98% of the time! I'm just being honest--none of us are pure joy 100% of the time, right? That would just be creepy to see!

They have their whiny, complaining, screaming, tired, throwing a knock-down-drag-out fit in aisle 5 at Target days, but who doesn't? I know I do! Luckily though, they have days where they just want to cuddle with mama, or blow bubbles in my face and have me pop them...

or days where we go outside and just hang out in the sunned yard (sometimes eating cookies).

And seeing the love they have for each other (although sometimes it feels as if they have anything BUT love for each other) truly melts all that other fit in aisle 5 stuff away! And all that is left is the satisfaction in knowing that if for no other reason, I am because of my babies.

Yeah, there was a time and place in my life when that statement would have made me chuckle and shake my head in a mocking, disapproving manner---but that was before I grew into the woman I am today. Those were the selfish days. Those were the days when I hardly had a care that surpassed achieving A's and getting together with friends on Mass Street for some drinks!

And to all of you out there without babies who may be shaking your head as you read my sappy letter explaining my enduring love for my offspring, just you wait! Once upon a time I was a jaded soul happy to live out my days alone and elbow-deep in essays to grade, but then that little miracle entered my arms. And slowly, over the last 5 years, I have morphed into a less selfish, more giving, a bit more patient, understanding human being. And I'm pretty sure this journey of becoming what I deem to be a better human being would have taken considerably longer had it not been for my own flesh and blood. And thank God I changed... I needed it! And now, I just need them!!! I'm kinda addicted.