1. “Shark Teeth” is the word for when your child grows permanent teeth behind their baby teeth without losing the aforementioned baby teeth. “Freaked” is the word to describe my reaction to seeing two sets of teeth growing in the exact same place in my 5-year-old’s mouth.

2. Hobby Lobby will not make you pay (no matter how much you insist) for the $6.99 decorative plaster ball that gets chucked violently across the store and decimated by your 2-year-old in his fit of rage at the indignity of being forced to ride in a shopping cart. Thank you, Hobby Lobby. You have earned a customer for life.

3. A bank-wide computer glitch can prevent all bank customers from accessing any money for an entire day and in those instances there is nothing at all that can be done to get your money while the computers hold it hostage. Scary but true. The moral of the story? People who hide cash in their mattresses or floor boards might not be as crazy as I thought.

4. When you’re at your son’s first dentist appointment and he has an epically dirty diaper just moments before getting in the chair and you realize you came to the dentist with diapers but no wipes it is good to know that Trader Joe’s Oatmeal Make-up Remover wipes also work on the other end of the human body.

It’s been a busy day around here. Can’t wait to see what I get to learn with the rest of my week…

A couple of weeks ago Traveler came running up to me yelling, “Booobies! BOOOOOBIES!  Look, Mommy, I found boobies!” At which point I found him holding this block:

I must admit, he does have a point.

A few weeks ago a good friend from college began working with Stella & Dot and selling their jewelry in trunk shows. I offered to host a trunk show (I was convinced by the offer of free jewelry!) and when I saw it in person I fell in love. I’ll be honest, I’m not usually the get dressed up in jewelry type. At least not on days when I’m destined to spend the majority of my time wiping baby spit-up off various parts of my wardrobe.

But, I’m looking to make a change in that area. I’m wearing jewelry and make-up (okay, tinted lip balm. But still…) and working to get out of my rut. So, I decided to launch my own Stella & Dot business to have a fun money making outlet that gives me an excuse to dress up, have fun, and hang out with girlfriends on a regular basis. My first couple of parties have not disappointed and I am having so much fun with it!

(One of the first pieces I bought for myself. I LOVE this necklace!)

I decided that I’d extend my launch to the web and host an online trunk show for Stella & Dot! And since S & D is all about sharing fabulous jewels with women I figured it would be in the spirit of the company to host a little giveaway along with it!

Here’s what this means for you. You can go online, check out my Stella & Dot boutique and then enter to win the oh so fabulous Vintage Twist Bracelet! To shop the show, head over to my Stella & Dot site and click on find your hostess. Enter “Jen Loving” as the hostess and shop away. The show runs today through August 16th at midnight.

And if you’re local (and I know some of you are!) shoot me an email about hosting a trunk show live and in person. I hosted my first one for the freebies and the average hostess gets $250 in free jewelry of her choice plus gets the chance to shop the line at 50% off. There’s no big hard sell presentation. Just friends, jewels & sparkly drinks are all you need to have a fun and low key time.

Now, back to the giveaway. Here’s how you enter -

1. Go to my Stella & Dot page HERE and look around. Come back & let me know which piece is your favorite in the comments. And you’ll be entered to win the Vintage Twist Bracelet.

You can also earn extra entries by -

Liking my page on Facebook. (One extra entry)

Blogging/Tweeting this giveaway. (One entry per Blog post/Tweet for a maximum of two extra entries per person)

Now go on and have some fun window shopping! I look forward to hearing your wish lists!

(The winner will be chosen August 17th by random number generator and I will contact the winner directly. Be sure and leave an email address for me to get in touch with you if you win! Winner has 48 hours to claim the prize or a new winner will be selected.)

Alternately titled: I have a blog?

Forgive me bloggers for I have sinned. It has been 28 days since my last blog post.

Seriously. There was a time when I blogged 3-4 times a week. Sometimes twice in one day. And now? Well, you know.

I’m trying to determine if I have less good blog material (I don’t.) or if it is that I have less time (yep, that’s it) and so somehow documenting my mom days is just getting harder and harder. For instance, I’m less than a paragraph into this post and I’ve already been interrupted three times to answer questions about booby milk, put socks on  my toddler’s hands, and explain to my kids why they cannot have coffee this morning. Good times.

So, the point of this post? To let everyone know I’m still alive. And to get back in the habit of writing something - anything - again. After a month long break it feels kind of daunting to get back in the blogging saddle.

Okay…I’m off to break up what sounds like a mini brawl in the kitchen. Apparently decisions regarding who gets which cup for their water is threatening to destroy the very fabric of my children’s relationships. Ahhh…family fun.

I love parties. LOVE them. And since our kids’ have birthdays within a three month stretch we decided that each year we’d just throw one huge party and celebrate everyone’s birthday then. We’ve actually been throwing big parties ever since Kai’s first birthday when I discovered that kid parties are just about the coolest thing ever. And for her 2nd birthday we threw a luau. You may remember me posting about it here.

As much fun as it is to have strippers at your kids’ birthday party, we decided that this year we’d revisit the luau theme with a bit more wholesome fun. And so the Loving Beach Luau was born. And I think it may just have been one of my most favorite parties ever.

First we started with sand.

LOTS of sand.

We had some great Hawaiian food like Mana Pua, Frushi (that’s fruit sushi and it was oh.so.yum!), pineapple boats, and Huli Huli Chicken. And the cakes? Oh the cakes!

We had a Tiki cake made my a good friend of my sister. And it was nothing short of delicious!

And since we had a last minute cake crisis that threatened to leave us without a cake I ended up ordering cakes from two different places and forgetting to cancel the one from Publix so we had TWO yummy birthday cakes. Which ended up being a good thing since we had a cake craving mob of 70 friends & family to feed.

We had a homemade beach boardwalk that my husband pulled off extraordinarily well the day before the party. It was perfect! We had flower leis, tiki cups, and even a bit of Hawaiian wildlife!

One of my favorite things was the dressing rooms my husband built so kids could change in and out of their swimsuits in private. I’m totally moving one of them into the backyard now so my kids don’t have to strip down naked in full view every time they get too much mud/sand/chicken on their clothes. And I think I may even be able to convince my husband to put an outdoor shower back there so we can hose them off before they drag their messes in with them.

We continued our tradition of having picture frames to sign but decided this year to consolidate the pics into one frame since we did the math and realized having four kids birthday party frames for every birthday equalled more wall space than we have available!

In the end we had a ton of fun, a TON of sand, and a wonderful time with our friends and family! (Oh, and did I mention we had a TON of dishes to clean up? We did. And sand. Lots of sand. Sand everywhere. In our house. In our shoes. In our beds. EVERYWHERE.)

Still I think the aftermath was worth it!

Summer is in full force around here and I feel a little like I slept through Spring. We’ve been so busy with kids and getting into a new rhythm as a family of 6 that time is flying by faster and faster. Juniper is suddenly cooing and smiling and entering into the golden age of babyhood. I love the days when babies start to reveal little bits of their personalities through smiles and raspberries and coos.

We’ve been trying to make the most of the fun that Summer has to offer and that means keeping busy. Our days have been full of outdoor playdates, kiddie pools in the backyard, strawberry picking excursions and a trip to the beach. Summer has been delicious.

We had the opportunity to take a beach trip as a family last week and it was a much needed break from the hustle & bustle of the real world. Words cannot describe how much we needed this break. We spent an entire week together as a family without interruption from work, drama, or even too much technology. It was a perfect break for us and it made me realize how many distractions we have in our daily life that take away from the joy of family. When all the pressure is lifted and the distraction of technology is out of reach and we’re left to just our family moments it is amazing how different life feels. Bedtimes aren’t quite so stressful. Routines don’t feel so urgent. And the bumps in the road don’t shake things up like they do at home.

Maybe its the age our kids are at now but it feels like we’re beginning to build important family memories. Ones the kids will laugh about when they’re grown. Granted some of those memories may involve crying tears of terror throughout the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum or getting Reese’s Pieces stuck in noses, but they are memories nonetheless. And when my sisters and I get together and talk about our favorite family memories they are always the ones that were vaguely scarring in a hilarious way. Its the craziness that sticks with you when you’re an adult. Its the craziness that keeps it fun and interesting. And craziness is definitely something that we have in abundance in the Loving family.

Love means holding your sister’s nose because the kitten that was going to the lady your mom met on Craigslist pooped in the fish bowl you decided to carry it in and the smell was causing your sister to gag and retch because both her hands were busy holding the poopy kitten in the glass bowl and she couldn’t cover her nose.

And, clearly, these sisters love each other…

Please forgive the bad cell phone pic. I was too busy trying not to double over in laughter while tears were streaming down my face because that moment in the car was positively hysterical. And that look on Kai’s face? That’s not a smile. It’s a combination of horror, disgust & tears of desperation. Those three emotions have never been so funny.

So much has happened in the last 3 weeks. So much. New baby. Easter. Birthdays. And lots and lots of life. I’ve been meaning to post pics and an update for a while. But I’ve been busy.

Let me just say that being home alone during the day with 4 kids has been both wonderful and exhausting. I’ve never felt more outnumbered than I do lately but at the same time I’ve never felt more like I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Despite my struggles with postpartum depression after each pregnancy, there is also a part of me that feels more alive right after bringing a new baby into the house than ever before in my life. That is certainly true now. I’m tired. I’ve been sore from recovery. The kids are wild. Coordinating naps and schoolwork has been a nightmare. Traveler has been whiny and jealous and needs constant holding. But despite all of the challenges there is something about all of this that feels so right. It just feels natural for us.

There are moments when Thomas and I look at each other and think, “Hey, we might actually be able to pull this off. We may actually be able to do this whole ‘parenting a big family’ thing.” There are other days, too. But, I prefer to focus on the ones where we are victorious. No matter how small those victories may seem.

And I know I’ve said this before, but I hope we’re not done with new babies. Because these moments? They are blissful. But even more blissful are those days when the kids are playing together or laughing at the dinner table or running through the backyard like wild savages and screaming gleefully. The days of a full are house are so joyful to me.

When I tell people I’d like to have one more I mostly get looked at like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. But, I tend to believe that sanity is overrated really. Because this? This craziness? This is where I want to be. Even when I’m fairly certain the inmates are running the asylum. It’s where I belong.

Our family has become such a team lately. Everyone has a part to play. Everyone has a job. And each person is so important. So essential. And I feel like a grown-up. But in a good way. Not a “hey you need eye cream and to color your gray hair” kind of way. Though I probably do need to invest in a good under eye cream and I definitely found a wiry white hair buried on my head the other day. I feel like I’m coming into my own, I guess. It’s taken me almost 32 years to feel like I know who I am (or at least who I am becoming) and it feels good to be in a place where I feel true to myself. I realize my job as a mother is to teach my kids about life, the universe, and everything but in reality they are the teachers so much of the time. I’ve learned who I am by being their mother. I’ve learned a lot about my strengths and even more about my weaknesses. And I’ve learned that being human and admitting to my faults and failures doesn’t make me less of a mother. It makes me a better mother.

Most of all, I feel a very holy sense of responsibility for the lives in my care. I think most parents would tell you that whether you have one child at home or ten, being a parent is such a sacred thing. It is filled with mystery and wonder and love and frustration and challenge and ease and it is a hundred feelings rolled up into one package. And the love is overwhelming. And the love is what keeps you going. Even on days when you feel depleted to your core.

I think that’s where I’m resting right now. When I’m tired, when I’m frustrated, when I’m questioning whether I can do all of this well, I am remembering how much I love these little people in my care. And when things get crazy that love is enough to make every wild moment worth it.

That and being able to capture pictures like these for future blackmailing…

We had plans for how Juniper was going to be born and she had other plans. Twice. In fact, any plans I had for backing out of my C-section stopped when this little girl of mine decided to confirm her birthday by making me labor the night before. All this may or may not mean we’ve got a little troublemaker on our hands. Though considering that we later discovered a tangled umbilical cord wrapped twice around her neck and a paper thin uterine scar that could have caused major troubles for us, maybe she’s just proving what a wise old soul she is…

Either way, it is our pleasure to introduce our newest little one.

Juniper Hadassah Hokulani Loving

6 lbs. 15 oz — 20″ long

Born April 8th, 2011 at 8:24 am.

Welcome to our family, precious girl.

**So, did you notice the name change? We made a last minute switch. We picked the name Juniper Sky before she was born. Actually, before she was even conceived. We loved the name. And then when we met her she just looked like someone else. Juniper still fit for us, but Sky just didn’t work anymore. And because I recently finished Beth Moore’s Esther Bible study I couldn’t look at my girl without thinking of Queen Hadassah, the girl who saved her people by being way more than just a pretty face. It was just her name somehow. And that is how she came to be Juniper Hadassah Hokulani Loving - born for such a time as this. It’s a lot to live up to I know, but somehow it just seemed right…**

I’ve never shared the details of Kai’s delivery here on my blog. Mostly because I’ve never had a reason to. It wasn’t ultra-tragic or horrific. But it wasn’t pretty. It was an induction at 38 weeks (mostly because my OB was going out of town and was the only Dr. in the practice. At least, that is my suspicion for her pushing induction that early.) I didn’t educate myself on my options for delivery. I had no idea I could refuse induction. Or an epidural. Or to have my water broken BEFORE getting the epidural. I was naive. And as a result I blame myself for the outcome.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. On the one hand the outcome was a beautiful amazing little girl who I love with all my heart. And that is the most important part. On the other hand? Thanks to a massive dose of Pitocin and an inattentive doctor, my posterior baby was born in one push (as in her entire head and body came out at one time and tore through me like nothing I could have anticipated) and led to a 4th degree laceration that  was apparently assumed to be a 3rd degree and repaired as thus, a broken tailbone (as in a piece of it broke OFF) and, later, the humiliation and pain of a rather large recto-vaginal fistula. Click that link if you dare. It isn’t pretty. (Though it isn’t a graphic article I linked to. Just not a pleasant condition to have to read about.)

Eight weeks after my daughter was born I was in surgery to repair this fistula. And it was successful. Something I am eternally thankful for. And at the recommendation of my colo-rectal surgeon I went on to have 2 c-sections lest I tempt fate and incur another fistula that may not be repairable.

But, I was so sad to have missed out on a beautiful birthing experience. Which is why this time I was determined to have a beautiful birth. A home birth. A water birth. And then my blood pressure just didn’t cooperate and I had to switch to a midwife who delivered at a hospital. But, it was a midwife I respect and she was honest with me about her concerns. Two previous C-sections and a recto-vaginal fistula caused by a 6 lb. 6 oz baby? She was willing to let me try as long as things progressed well and the baby seemed smaller than my first or at the very least not a bigger baby.

Fast forward to today when I go in for the sizing ultrasound I was dreading. I had a feeling they were going to say this little girl was bigger. Not because I think she actually is, but because I don’t always trust ultrasounds to reveal the true size of a baby. And of course they found that she is 7 lbs. 3 oz. A bigger baby than the one who charged her way out leaving a massive tear in her wake. And this was the point that the midwife and I had “the talk.”

The one I was dreading. The one where they say a C-section is a much better idea. Because having consulted with my original colo-rectal surgeon the consensus is that if I tear to the extent I did before and develop the same issue again there will be nothing left to repair with. And that leaves me with the good possibility of living the rest of my life having the horrible, humiliating, degrading and (not to mention) unsanitary condition of an irreparable recto-vaginal fistula. Having had to live with it for a short 8 weeks I can tell you that is not something I ever want to endure again. Not for my self-esteem. Not for my marriage. And so I caved and made the reluctant decision to have another C-section.

The thing is, I don’t know whether I’ve made the right choice. The argument could be made that I have just been a victim of bullying from a midwife and doctor team who want to protect their best interest and who don’t trust my body’s ability to do what God designed it for. Or the argument could be made that I don’t have faith that God will protect me in this. Then again the argument could also be made that they are truly looking out for my best interest and that putting my body through a possible fistula again would be reckless. I honestly don’t know.

I know that I am sad. And disappointed. And that I feel slightly robbed of the chance for a beautiful natural birth. But maybe I should feel thankful. Thankful that I won’t have to endure the humiliation of a fistula again. Or thankful that I live somewhere that gives me access to medical choices that will prevent this from happening again.

I could stand and refuse to have another elective C-section. They gave me that choice. They aren’t forcing me. Pleading with me? Yes. Forcing me? No. But having considered my options and my complications and my history, I made the best choice I could. There are going to be people reading this and people in my life who will say I chickened out at the last minute. Maybe they’re right. And I guess I’ll never know whether I could have delivered naturally without incurring another recto-vaginal fistula. But, in the end, I made the best decision I could armed with the medical advice I was given both by my midwives (one homebirth, one not), my OB, and my colo-rectal surgeon. Sometimes C-sections are medically necessary. And maybe this is one of those times. Maybe not. But, either way, I am the one who has made this decision. And since I am making an informed decision after being given all my options and researching possible outcomes on either side I feel like that is the best I could ask for. A choice in how I’m birthing. In life, things rarely go according to plan. And even more rarely do they go according to your preferences. But at the end of the day having a healthy happy baby is what I want most. And I’m vowing to look forward to that without looking back to what might have been.