some recent pictures of the family

Here is Ben playing on the floor with vehicles.... like he does every day ;o)
Here is my little Lua hanging out in a halter top that auntie Holley gave her. She had better enjoy dressing like this now, because she will not leave the house like this when she is a teenager!
Lua rolling around on the floor trying to eat her foot. cutie!!
Here is my honey on is birthday a couple of weeks ago. We have been off of sugar, so cake was such a treat! you can see Ben trying to get his finger into the frosting!
My two little ones chilling out in the living room. I love Ben's posture in this picture. Like a little man with his leg crossed. Isn't Lua's headband funny? I have to keep her hair out of her eyes!

This first picture is of Lua sitting in her "Bumbo" seat; a funny little chair that lets infants sit up and look around before they are really able to sit up on their own. it is a great little chair and she seems to appreciate being able to see what's going on. ...Ben loves for Lua to snuggle with him in his bed. This picture was taken a month or so ago. Lua always has this surprised look on her face. Maybe it is because she doesn't have any eyebrows yet.

just a little post

Just a little post because i don't want to spend too much time sitting at the computer right now.... i would have had time to post something longer and maybe more interesting if i hadn't just spent 20 minutes searching around Craigslist for things i don't need. I am not buying these things, mind you... well, not often anyway ;o) i just surf around looking for fabulous deals and rare finds and then i e-mail them to myself and others. a real time waster. good fun.
so, this will just be a little post- a "postlette" really- because my two children are sleeping simultaneously and we know that that won't last for long. We were at Feast until very late last night; had a wonderful time... but were out hours past bedtime and so the little boy went down for a rest with practically no fuss today. that means he is REALLY tired. The little girl is also asleep for the time being, though i am not sure how as her daddy is in a closet adjascent to ours drilling drywall screws into the wall. anyway, so long as they are both asleep i thought i would write a little note.
The cute thing that i was thinking about has to do with our little son who is moving towards being completely potty trained. It is a big step in our lives, and i can't tell you how happy we are to not have two babes in diapers. so happy. of course, it is a pretty intense time of having to pay CLOSE ATTENTION. Mostly Ben is great about telling us when he has to use the potty. sometimes, he doesn't mention that he has to go, but there is really no need because he is blatantly doing the potty dance; a little aerobic routine that leaves no question as to whether or not he has to go. One thing that we have learned is that we must DEFINITELY ask him if he has to go BEFORE he sits down to watch "Clifford the Big Red Dog". That show is just way too compelling to get up from to go to the potty..... so compelling in fact, that one doesn't even realize that one HAS to go potty.... and so it just happens. right on the overpriced Crate and Barrel couch......... scotch guard can only handle so much. Until you have kids in college, there is probably no point in having any furniture other than bean bags and area rugs.
Another thing that we have learned in the "potty training" process is that the right underwear is tremendous incentive. Ben is very very proud of his "big boy underwear" and particularly loves the briefs with the "Cars" characters on them.
( May i also mention that there are few things cuter than an almost three year old wearing a tiny pair of briefs. truly.) He likes "Mater" a lot, but the character that really strikes his fancy is "Lightening McQueen". To hear him say the name is really about the cutest thing that i have ever heard. First of all, he says it with such flair and inflection, and very loudly- as if he is the announcer at a big race. Secondly, whenever he says it, he usually says it about three times in quick succession. Thirdly, he pronounces it as "Limey Naqueen". whew. so funny.
Okay, that's all for now. sorry for using the word "cute" so much. It is hard for me to avoid when i am talking about Ben. ;o) If you met him, you'd know why.
I've got to figure out how to link to friend's pages. I am pretty sure that there are about three people that read this blog. not that that is the reason i am writing.... but it would be fun to know that writing here was actually helping me to stay connected with other people in some way. i'll figure it out....

the happy hoferts

the happy hoferts i am just trying something.... i don't know what this does

Here is Lua playing on her butterfly mat and laughing; two things which she does often.


Here Ben and his friend Lila are playing with some gears in the family room. Lila and her mom Cara came for a visit from Montana last month. Ben and Lila were fast friends!

I can't believe that i have not written anything here since March. Well, maybe i can.

As you can see by the very amateur look of this blog, i don't spend very much time here. One thing i want to know is, WHY can't i move that blogger box off of my title? do you know how much time i have spent just trying to move that darn box? what is the point of having a title for your blog if it is covered up by the darn blogger box?? you can probably tell that i am QUITE computer illiterate and definitely not very savvy when it comes to things of this nature. ah well. at least i'm here.
So, on the 25th of this month, our baby girl will be FIVE months old! it really boggles the mind! Don't get me wrong-- some of the days feel SO long.... but here we are, already on the threshhold of being HALF A YEAR old!! it is pretty scary to think really. This tiny window of time that i have to try to be a good mom, and effective parent, raising children who will be noble people, contributing members of society, servants to humanity. It's a tall order. Not sure that i am doing such a good job.....
Lua is amazing. She is so cute and so smiley. She also has a great set of lungs and cries more often than her big brother did at this age. Dan describes her as having "higher highs and lower lows" than Ben did when he was a baby. Interestingly, Ben, who was our mellow little baby boy is quite an emotional almost three year old. He has been having some high highs and low lows these days. I am not sure what to attribute to the "new" baby.... though he has NEVER displayed one iota of aggression towards baby Lua-- and in fact talks at great length every day about how much he loves her and how she is his "sweet girl". it is so precious..... The other thing is, he is two and 3/4 of a year old and i know that some of this can just be attributed to that. I find that much of his life can be looked at as these little peaks and valleys when it comes to behaviour. For weeks-- maybe months, he is his easygoing self, happy, cooperative and easily entertained... until one day he wakes up and is grumpy and fussy for another couple of weeks. We are climbing out of grumpy valley right now. at least i hope we are climbing out. Yesterday was a pretty great day; very little fussing, quite cooperative and generally cheerful.--- though i must add- in Ben's defense, even when he is having a rough time, it is not constant, and much of his day he still demonstrates what a sweet boy he really is; loving, sensitive, funny etc....
So, in a couple of minutes, the kiddos and i are off to the pediatrician for Lua's checkup. She was supposed to go at four months, but we delayed the appointment so that we could do some research and talk about vaccination options. So anyway, now she is almost 5 months old... i am anxious to see what she weighs and how long she is ....though i obviously could determine both of these things on my own.... i would much rather go to the dr's office, wait in a germy waiting room and pay a 40.00 co-pay for someone else to tell me. why am i doing this again?? well, i also want to get her umbilical hernia checked out; she still has QUITE an outie. poor Ben doesn't get out enough these days, so even trips to the ped's office are something to look forward to and he is excited to go in momma's car.
before i log off, i wanted to share a little stream of conversation between Ben and i yesterday afternoon.... well, it was less of a conversation than a soliloquy actually. It was ben's naptime and i was snuggling with him in the rocking chair, and he was talking. a lot. i tried not to talk too much because i didn't want to stimulate his busy little brain too much... but i did say a couple things here and there- like, "Ben, i love you more than anything....", "In the whole wide world", he chirped in.... then the rest of the talking went something like this:
BEN: "I have a happy heart. Cause i am happy."
MOMMA: "I am so glad you are happy"
BEN:" I have a radiant heart. I have a kindly and radiant heart. I don't have a radiant square. I have a radiant heart."
I couldn't help but giggle and snuggle him closer... i said, in a quiet voice, "Ben, you are such a hoot" and he said, "Yeah. I am a hoopt". classic.

has it been THAT long?

Here is a picture of Ben painting with Auntie Leslie when she was here in May. what a fun visit that was! Uncle Jef visited us in June and we had a wonderful time with him as well ;o)


This is a picture of the kids with Gramma when she visited in May.... i am trying to catch up here.

she is finally here!!

well.... she is finally here..... and, as you can imagine, i don't have too much time to write these days.... so this "post Lua" post will be short and sweet -- just like my baby girl. She decided to show up at 10:07 pm after three hours of active labor on the 25th of february ( a saturday night)... born at home , in a pool in our family room (which, as you can imagine feels much more like a "family" room now--- what a blessing for this house!).... weighing in at 9 lbs and 4 oz., 22 inches long. she is a beautiful, sweet little thing and she smiles all the time. i know many people say that it is not really smiling when they are this little, but i don't buy it for a minute. she definitely smiles. we are sleepy, but happy... and somehow the sleepless nights don't hurt as much this time around (though ask me in a month...). ben is adorable with her and says things to her like, "baby Wua, you the best" and he pats her and says "oh babe. i wuv you baby Wua". melts your heart......
i am including a couple of photos and will write again when i have a minute (probably 7 or 8 years from now!).

well, i am getting to the end of my rope

i am trying to be as good a sport about this as possible.... but i must admit, i am starting to get weary. today is monday the 20th of February and our little one (who is probably fairly huge by now) has still not joined us here on the other side. perhaps the fault is mine... i have just made it too comforable in there... she just wants to stay put... but i am running out of womb! i never could have imagined how uncomfortable it would be to be so large... so unwieldy; getting up off the couch is like an olympic event these days (and believe me, i am not scoring any medals for the team). I try to continue to be positive and remind myself that everything is happening for a reason and that she WILL eventually come. i have a prenatal with my midwives today, and i know that, as usual, they will set my mind and heart at ease and i will leave feeling better than when i went in and more positive about the remaining time that i have being pregnant... especially when they listen to the babe and she sounds good, and my blood pressure is good, and there is still no protein in my urine....It will be another story when i go to the doctor's tomorrow and they want to strip my membranes, and i tell them no, they cannot... and they look at me like i am from neptune.... or worse, they want me to check in to the hospital right away so that they can just go ahead and induce--- and will want me to have pitocin like i did with Ben... no thank you! that is not the route i am interested in travelling this time. I will be eager to hear what Claudia (my midwife) will have to say about what i can go in armed with tomorrow- in terms of responses to what the doctors in my OBGYN practice are going to probably say and want to do. if i turn myself over to them, the dreams of trying this at home will slip away again. Barring any difficulties, i will stick to my guns and tell them, no, i am not checking in.... give me another week and we'll talk then. They think i am such a nut. "why is she doing this to herself?"
Blah blah blah you say. i am sick of hearing this lady rant about being pregnant. well, to that i say, "find another blog to read". ;o) because chances are good that until this baby decides to join the world of the living on THIS side of my skin, i am going to have more to say about this. thank you for bearing with me... and please, if you are a spiritual person (and even if you are not) if you could whisper a little prayer for me because i am, truly, getting to the end of my rope.

el dia del amor

Happy Valentines Day. Another good day to have a baby... especially when your baby was "due" yesterday..... "due" is sort of a cruel word to use to describe the situation though; i mean, it carries with it a very negative connotation i think. the opposite of "due" being "overdue"... as if you are now toting around some overdue library book and accruing dreadful fines with the passing of each day.... made all the more awful when nearly everyone who sees you says, "are you STILL pregnant?!?!". my new answer will be "no. i had the baby days ago. i left her at home and am just out getting some air. oh, i still look 11 months pregnant? it's just the pants...."
i'm just kidding... though it is easy to slip into a sarcastic and somewhat obnoxious response mode when nobody seems to be able to think about anything else other than my enormous belly and the Shrek feet that i have taken to walking around on. It will be a relief when the baby gets here-- that everyone can just look at her and stop looking at me.... patting me sympathetically and groaning about my being pregnant "poor sweetie". i've had it with that!!!!
i am actually doing great to be honest. Happier and more energetic and positive than i felt last week. i was actually ten days "overdue" myself by the time i was born, and my brother was two weeks late (bless my mother's heart- he was a big moose of a baby too).... so part of me is just very resigned to the possibility of waiting a little longer for this little one to arrive. in the meantime i am crossing all sorts of things of my to do lists and being very nesty-- which is right up my alley anyway..... one thing that is a little hard is knowing that Dan's folks will only be here for a few more days... and they would obviously like to meet their new granddaughter before they leave the continent.... i can certainly appreciate their excitement, but i also can't completely ignore the feeling that someone is waiting on me and that i just can't perform under these conditions!! My midwife is leary of giving any predictions as to when the baby will arrive-- obviously there is really no way to know.... but she said that if she had to guess, she would say that the baby will come right after they leave. in some part of my heart, i think she may be right. we had talked about changing their tickets so that they could stay for longer to increase the chances that they may be able to see her.... but now i am not so thrilled with that idea if in some part of my pregnant brain i am feeling performance anxiety and will not go into labor until we are alone again!! i am detached as i can be - i think--- but don't get me wrong--- I WANT TO HAVE THIS BABY SOONER THAN LATER!! :o)
whatever will be will be.
so... other than that... what is the other news on the hofert homefront? my little sonshine has quieted down in the other room. he didn't seem too interested in snuggling in the rocking chair for very long before his nap today-- which is unusual because he is such a snuggle bug lately.... but rather wanted to get right into his bed and snuggle with his "Peaches kitty" (named after our neighbor's cat- with whom he is completely enthralled) and under his cozy blanket "that aunt Weswie give to me". anyway, he stirred for awhile and i thought this might one of those days when he just skips right over the nap entirely, but now he is quiet again. Speaking of kitties and of my sweet little son... the other night when Dan was putting ben to bed, ben said to his daddy "I wike kitties. i wike kitties all day long". that means he RREEEAAAALLLYYY likes them. o)
Well, it is a beautiful day here in Atlanta, Georgia... and sinse i have someone to stay here with the sleeping boy i should hop up (yeah- hop up-- RIIIIGGHT) - rather, i should heave myself out of this chair, get dressed in some walking clothes and get myself out of this house for a walk around the neighborhood.... walk this baby down.... and get some fresh air.

another day closer

so every day lately i think to myself.... "this would be a good day to have a baby". today i think it especially true. I had a good night sleep last night.... Benjamin is feeling much better today after beginning a course of antibiotics (i tried to hold off as long as i could) for what is, apparently, an ear infection..... The weather is nice; i am feeling happy and strong... Dan and i have had some nice/ meaningful conversations lately that leave me feeling more connected with him than ever..... I have been taking long walks..... The room downstairs is all set up; the birth pool is inflated, i have the birth kit all organized and ready... candles to light if i feel inclined....beautiful birth art/ focal/ point banners hung on the wall... a new video in the video camera and fresh batteries in the digital camera... we have snacks and electrolyte drinks in the fridge downstairs... the laundrey is folded.... it's friday---- what else? well, i guess those reasons are as good as any.
Then i ask myself, am i really ready to have a newborn again? in all honesty, the answer is a hesitant, "i think so" (but i'm really thinking, "no, not so much")--- but, let's be honest, will i ever really be ready for the baby to come? not really. when it comes down to it, i think you just have to pull yourself together and dive in shouting a prayer and crossing your fingers. This has been my experience with motherhood so far. Even at the times when it feels like we have it together, there is always a feeling that we are really just flying by the seat of our pants. Whatever "success" we experience is largely attributable to the grace of God... and other than that, we sort of make it up as we go along. What works one week changes somewhere along the way and we find ourselves in a constant state of reflection and flexibiltity. It's hard, but it's so so good. And so now we are just getting ready to throw another amazing soul into the mix. Maybe she will be easy going, maybe a little more high maintenance than her brother...who knows what her personality will be like, or what will be her likes and dislikes, patterns and peculiarities... we will have to develop new tactics and maneuvers.... but we'll figure it out together, as we have done so far.... and maybe we will even sleep through the night again one day. ah, how sweet to think. :o)
So anyway, i think today is a good day to have a baby..... but tomorrow would be too.... and she will come when she will come (she'll definitely come one way or another, so i guess there'e some comfort in that!). Off now to drink some dandelion leaf tea (a natural dieuretic to help me not be so puffy!) and putter in the studio. Benjamin is down for a rest and the time passes so quickly-- i need to seize the moment!! Although John and Priscilla are here right now and very helpful when it comes to providing some extra care for Ben, so i really can get out and do some things on my own, or retreat downstairs when i feel the need, so that is a treat.
but, that's all for now...

this is a picture of the three happy hoferts at the cheesecake factory a couple of months ago... 

Ben and Daddy at Ben's 2nd birthday party 

this is a picture of ben taken last spring... but it is just so sweet... i had to post it here 

 
 

well, here we go

well.... in the last months i have been hopping around on the internet peeking into the thoughts of people i know... reading some posts of people that i don't .... and having been thoroughly sucked into this strange new(ish) mode of communicating, i too have now succumbed to the irresistable pull of the BLOG. so, here i am, typing my first entry.... wondering if i will ever have anything clever or interesting to say , or whether i will just carry on about what my son had for lunch, or what the funniest/ cutest thing is that he has said lately.... or how i am so-and-so many days away from the due date of our baby daughter..... (by the way, i am now 4 days away from the projected "due" date of our baby daughter :o) In any case, i am sure if nothing else, that it will be nice for our parents and a sprinkling of close friends who care, to be able to go somewhere online where they can hear something of our comings and goings and see pictures of our kids. so, hello all. glad to be here.