Catching up with the Gills

As with a number of endeavors undertaken in the past, my blog has taken a backseat to life.  It has been 8 months since I last updated and SO much life has happened!  Here's a quick pictorial view of our last 8 months.



Christmas tree hunt, Julia & Suzanna in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and Jacob's first Christmas
Merry Christmas from the Gills! 

Gill kids' birthdays:  Julia turned 11, Rebecca 17, Suzanna 9, Mariah 15, Thomas 7, Zachary 4 and Jacob turned 1!

Activities and accomplishments: 
Mariah (with friend & fellow Star grad) inducted into National Junior Honor Society, Rebecca medals at State SkillsUSA competition, Zachary spells his name with bendy sticks, Suzanna with her castle at Cultural Fair, Julia reading to her little brothers, Zachary at Star Preschool end of year celebration, Thomas catcher and with his buddy Robbie at tee ball

American Heritage Girls:  End of Year Ceremony, Corpus Christi Procession, Daddy/Daughter Cake Contest (with Jabba the Hutt cake) and July 2012 Explorers/Pioneers/Patriots Fort Flagler Camping Trip

Jacob pics:  Snoozing with Grandma Gill in the MO heat, enjoying ribs, Grandpa Revaughn meeting Jacob Revaughn,
Jacob at play, zonked out, first noticing our dog Hollie, anxious for his first food and hanging with Daddy

Summer fun:  Camping and exploring the beach at Penrose Point State Park with the Lentes,
playing in the snow on the 4th of July, exploring Rialto Beach on Thomas's birthday, tubing with the Klaessigs,
Scenic Beach with the Sprys and Thomas's first backpack trip with Dad, Mariah & Suzanna



  Thomas with his 2 best buds, Gavin and Robbie, at Thomas's birthday campout look eerily similar to Brian in 2 pics:
 impromptu reunion in KC with college roommates, Dan & Joe (top) & Saint Patrick's Day Pub Run with two of his current partners in crime, Brian & Robbie. (bottom)  I feel a scary feeling of prophecy when I look at these pics!

Easter family picture where personalities abound!

We celebrated our 20th anniversary on August 1

As you can see, life has been very, very busy in this circus we call a life!!! Hopefully, it won't be another 8 months before I can provide another update!!

Blessings to you all!

Beth (& family)

Reason #42 why we rarely eat out as a family...

We used to eat out a lot with our kids, but haven't been the last couple of years for a number of reasons, and economics is only one of those. 

Over the weekend, after Julia and Suzanna performed wonderfully in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" at our parish, we decided to treat everyone to dinner out.  We were treated, alright, to many of the reasons we have stopped eating out as a family as we dined at one of our favorite Mexican venues.

Before we even sat down, the screeching of the chairs being pushed, pulled and dragged across the tile floor was so loud that I was already hushing the kids...and they hadn't even begun speaking yet!

Ordering is always fun, with the bartering for what food and drinks the children will be able to get...and subsequently knock over...during the meal.  We also realized at this time that someone (who shall not be named) left the diaper bag at the church and Brian had to drive back to find it, leaving me on my own with all of the people!

Someone always has to use the restroom, and for a long time, with four girls, restroom trips were mostly my duty.  Our girls are now old enough to take themselves, and Julia was the only one who ended up actually needing to make a visit during this meal.  Unfortunately, the door on the restroom proved to be difficult to open, causing Julia to get stuck inside, finally yelling "Mommy" loud enough for us to hear from the front of the restaurant.  Brian quipped, "you do project well", in reference to her earlier performance in the pageant.  However, I don't think Julia was as amused as we were as evidenced by the tears in her eyes when Rebecca rescued her and they returned to the table as our meals were delivered.

As the first round of chips and dip was finished up, several people were wearing refried beans and we only had two of the above-mentioned drinks spilled, one of which was Zachary's.  He took it in stride, though, declaring "I can drink this" as he slurped the soda off the table with his straw!  The other drink spilled on Rebecca and Julia...adding insult to Julia's injury!  Zachary had buyer's remorse when his meal arrived, shoving his Mexican pizza away and announcing "I'm sharing with you" when he got a look at Brian's Carne Asada.  The boy does enjoy his meat!  (The Mexican pizza went home in a box.)

Jacob slept through most of the meal, but made his place in the circus known by spitting up on several of his people as we passed him around before leaving so that I could eat my meal...he waited to get me until we were packing up to leave.

As we were finishing up, and the kids were clearly showing signs of needing to vacate the premises, I was brought to tears in laughter at the absurdity of it all when Zachary loudly replied to someone's question of "What?" by yelling "Chicken butt!!!" over and over.

And THAT, dear folks, is reason number 42 why we rarely eat out as a family any longer.

Parents' professions through the eyes of a 3-year-old

Zachary, Jacob and I visited my friend yesterday at the college where I worked for the last several years.  For some reason, Zachary thought it was a doctor's office.  We explained to him that it was a school and that Miss Gayle was a teacher there. 

Knowing that Brian is also a college professor, Gayle asked Zachary what his daddy did, thinking it would help him to understand that we weren't at a doctor's office.  Zachary surprised us, though, when he answered "he builds beds".  We do have 7 children, so Brian has spent a fair bit of time putting together beds.  He's put together basinets, cribs, bunk beds, futons, and doll beds...he has, in fact, built a couple of beds from scratch, including our bed and the captain's bed he built for Rebecca before bunk beds entered our lives. 

For follow up, Gayle asked Zachary what his mommy did, and he replied that I am a nurse.  I am indeed a nurse...I have been an RN for 20 years and although I am not currently working in the nursing profession, it indeed remains a large part of my identity.  I was feeling kind of proud and smug that he knew my profession and not his dad's.

Today, I wanted to see if Zachary had a different answer for yesterday's questions.  You know the 3-year-old's imagination:  things can change rapidly.  Well, his responses were the same...dad builds beds and mom is a nurse.  I went one step further today, though, and asked what mom does as a nurse.  I was thinking maybe he'd say "give shots" or "help people".  Nope.  You see, 3-year-olds view relationships through the filter of how they are affected or might benefit.  Knowing that, it shouldn't have come as a surprise when he stated "you nurse babies".  Yep, I do....I've been breastfeeding my babies for nearly as long as I have been an RN!
 
I am not nearly so smug as I was yesterday...but I am humbled and happy.  What could be more pleasing than being recognized by your child for providing a safe and secure place to lay his head and the food he needs to live?  That is our job, a job we lovingly and gratefully accepted when we said "yes" to God's call for becoming parents.  There is no more important profession nor part of our identity, after all, than that of being parents, and I thank Zachary for reminding me of that so clearly! 

Time to get back to "work"...I need to lie Jacob in his basinet so that I can prepare Zachary some lunch!

Conversations with a 3 year old

As we pulled into our driveway, Zachary struck up a conversation...as usual, he amuses me!!!

Zachary:  "Mom, where's Dad?"
Me:  "He's in Seattle at work."
Zachary:  "He's at Mt. Rainier.  Oh no...it's a volcano."
Me:  "You're right, it is."
Zachary:  "I want Dad to come home.  Mt. Rainier is a volcano and it's going to explode."
Me:  "Reeeeeeally?
Zachary:  "Yep.  I can see it from my house."
Me:  "Yes, you can."  (Well...not today, but on a clear day.)
Zacahry:  "Now, I need my bugs cleaned out of my ears (for some reason, he thinks that the earwax is bugs...go figure!) before the volcano explodes."
Me:  "You do?"
Zachary:  "Yep." 

He proceeded to the bathroom to retrieve Q-tips (yes, I know, you're not supposed to use those that way...blah, blah, blah), got the bugs cleaned out (at least it's not bees today) and the conversation is over.  I sure hope that his prediction on the volcano is like his trip to surf Crocodile Lake earlier this week.  Just in case, I'll let Brian know that his boy would like him to come home soon!

Things I never imagined saying...

I am sure all parents have experienced it:  something comes out of your mouth and you immediately think "I never imagined saying that!"  I seem to encounter those moments every day.  You know the ones I'm talking about.  "Don't eat that dirt."  "Underwear are for bottoms, not heads."  "We don't eat in the bathroom."  We've all said them, most days I've been known to say many!

Back in the day of only two children, when Rebecca was nearly three and Mariah was under a year, Brian and I took the girls to Friendly's.  It is a restaurant back east that served American diner fare and is best known for its ice cream desserts.  Rebecca wanted dessert, so we ordered the Royal Banana Split, thinking we had a win:win situation.  Rebecca would enjoy the 3 flavors of ice cream and Mariah, our fairly new eater, would have a yummy banana to keep her happy.  When the ice cream creation arrived, however, Rebecca wanted the banana.  Out of my mouth, before I even thought about it came:  "No you cannot have the banana, you must eat your ice cream."  Really?  I just insisted that my young daugher eat ice cream in lieu of a healthy banana?  Brian nearly lost it, while I sputtered and attempted to make it sound reasonable that I just said what I said as my 2-year old was tearing up!!!  I can only imagine the looks on the faces of the diners around us if they overheard me!

Yes, we've all said things we never imagined saying, but some are much more memorable than others and provide humor for years to come!

Terrible Twos?

Really, whomever termed it "Terrible Twos" had clearly NOT arrived at the threes yet!  Twos have nothing compared with threes in my family...and today's three is a shining example.  Our three year old has been having some issues, possibly due to all of the changes of being a new big brother and starting preschool, but today is a dozie! 

I thought we were getting off on a good footing this morning:  I was in and out of the shower before Zachary was up, we had breakfast orchestrated and ready to come out of the oven, and he was not fighting me on getting to the bathroom and dressed.  THAT, however, was the end of the pleasantries.  He took one bite of the apple oven pancake put together by his big sister and started spitting it out...noisily...proclaiming his dislike repeatedly.  It was new.  He had tried it.  We offered alternatives.  He began screaming at every offering, thus getting NO breakfast besides a raw apple this morning, before we headed out to school. 

As we dropped off his siblings, Zachary said he wanted to go to Mr. Graydon's party.  I don't know Mr. Graydon, because he AND his house are imaginary, so no going to the party:  more screaming!  Pulling into the coffee shop's drive thru, I ordered my usual half-caf (seriously considered upping the ante this morning, though) and a flavored milk, thinking I could sweeten him up.  More screaming!!!  Fine..."no milk for you" Mr. Three!

Our plan to go to mass and then to the store no longer seemed feasible...three screaming fits and you're out!  Instead, we headed home to the tune of "I don't want to go home!" screamed repeatedly for the entire 10 minute drive at a decibel that surely had all canines in a 10-mile radius howling in misery.  I snickered as I turned up the radio (unsuccessfully trying to drown out the screams) and heard the line "Life is good today" being proclaimed by the Zac Brown Band!  HA! 

We're home & Zachary's in his room...not currently welcome with the general population (Jacob and myself) while screaming (only slightly muffled by the closed door that he is kicking).  Maybe we'll get to feeling that "life is good today" if the shreiking ceases or I find some earplugs.  Terrible twos?  I'll take them anyday over Tremendously Trying Threes!!!

Graduating the "bonus month"

Our Jacob surprised us on August 2 when he arrived 5 weeks before his due date and 4 weeks before his scheduled  "eviction".  He arrived at a good weight (nearly 7 pounds, 4 ounces), which gave him an advantage.  The usual reaction to that news is "wow, can you imagine what he would have been if he'd made it to term?"  Yes, we can, as the median weight of our seven children is 9 pounds, 11 ounces...we assumed that Jacob would definintely reach, if not exceed, that weight.  Although weighing in large was an advantage, he was still very much a preemie and behaved as such. 

The "bonus month", as a friend of a preemie refers to the month we weren't really expecting or ready for, brought some trials.  Jacob was very jaundiced, and endured daily lab tests for elevated bilirubin, "sunbathing" and forced feeds.  He was also a poor nurser, as many premature infants are, which resulted in a weight loss of over a pound his first week and a month of visits to the lactation nurse, using breastfeeding aids and force-feeding to get things going.  For the first 3 weeks, he and I lived in a cave (my bedroom) with a nurse/pump/supplement schedule going every 2-3 hours around the clock, with naps in between that routine.  Our other children wondered if they had a mother, I am sure!  Fortunately, Brian was on summer break, as were the children, which eased up our running around and allowed him to chauffer us to/from appointments.  We received delicious hot meals delivered every evening for three weeks arranged through the Martha Ministry, a group from our parish that provides meals for during difficult times for parishioners, such as illness, new babies, adoptions and the like.  We were truly blessed!

Jacob is now eight weeks old and has officially been a "newborn" and not a "preemie" for three weeks, and is behaving accordingly.  His visit at the pediatrician today had him weighing in at 9 pounds, 13 ounces (which is what both of his brothers were at birth) and 23 inches in length (over 3 inches since he was born).  He "graduated" from the lactation nurse last week because he was nursing exclusively without breastfeeding aids and was gaining weight so well.  We're getting a stretch of about five hours of sleep at night, which is a vast improvement over 2-3 hours.  And, to top it all off, he has rolled over from his stomach to his back over the past two days!  He is definitely on track developmentally and is such a wonderfully loved and cuddly addition to our family.  I am thankful that he is growing and developing, but I am also very thankful for and will miss that "bonus month" that he has graduated from.