what's up weekly. (we officially made it through the first forty days!)

This week was strange - very little happened worth reporting, and the days kind of went by in a haze.  We got school done (and even made a little headway in getting caught up with what we missed before).  We had friends over for the first time since Ophelia was born.  We had a few run-ins with gastrotechnics.  You know.

We wanted to go to church together for the first time since before Ophelia was born.  I try to give myself six full weeks of self-enforced, homebound rest and recovery, and we were just shy of six weeks.  I haven't been to church in so long - even before she was born, I was in a lot of pain in the third trimester and sitting in the folding chairs at church was really difficult, and then I got Covid, and then I had her... it's been a long stretch, and I was feeling (mostly) ready to attempt it with a nursing newborn.  

But God had other plans, and Atticus vomited a few times Saturday night.  He was fine by Sunday, but we're sticklers about the 24-hour rule, so we stayed home again.  Then Penelope caught it Monday.  Everyone was fine by Tuesday.  So random and weird.  Hopefully we'll get to attend church this weekend.

Other than that, our items of note this week were mild.  I took most of the kids on a run into Natural Grocers, which was my first time getting out and about with them on my own.  (Last week, I needed to run to the post office and to pick up a meat order, but I chickened out at the last minute and Todd was kind enough to drive us around on his lunch break.)  I also went out by myself to pick up a Walmart order.

Todd let Callista pick out the flowers for the table this week - I love the ones she picked!

It sounds small, but I have really avoided going out and about if I can help it lately, since it's so cold right now and body warmth is so important for healing.  But I'm getting to the point where I feel ready to do more.  I do try to keep myself warm by wrapping my abdomen with a cashmere scarf under my clothes to keep my kidneys warm, and covering up with a wool blanket while I drive.  One thing that has developed over the course of having a million kids is learning to take care of myself better, and it seems to be working.  This postpartum season has been so sweet and gentle, and (dare I say it?) easy.  I'm healing well, we're bonding well, and I don't feel strung out or exhausted.  I'm not in pain, I'm not emotionally unstable.  This is how it should be.

And now we've reached the six-week mark. I've made it the first forty+ days already!  (Though, as Todd points out, the Old Testament declared the postpartum season to be eighty days after a girl - so I still have a lot to look forward to in the remaining forty days!)  We are gently easing into a new rhythm, and there are things that still need to get ironed out, like where Ophelia is going to nap when she gets too big to nap on the end of the couch throughout the day.  All the bedrooms are taken, and all the rest of the house is loud.  But there are always creative solutions; I just need a lightbulb moment.

And other than that, our week didn't hold much besides getting back into the swing of cooking (I'm working on a sourdough starter and learning to bake with einkorn), and Penelope baked some cookies.

I also finally got my hands on some whole chickens at Natural Grocers (that is one thing that has been hard for them to stock with the supply chain stuff), so I will be trying my hand at pressure canning chicken broth soon.  Pray for me that I don't blow up my kitchen.

And that's that!  Off to snuggle my sweet girl.

what's up bi-weekly. (second christmas, and ophelia is already one month old!)

Hello, friends!  Hands-free time is scarce around these parts lately, and finding time to type is a challenge.  So I'm going to let photos do most of the talking this week.

The table Todd stripped and refinished for me.  ISN'T IT GORGEOUS?!  It had been covered in dirty   gritty, flat-white paint when I bought it.  This is probably a foretaste of what it will feel like when I get to see resurrected human bodies someday.

Home office these days: busy, messy, chaotic, joyful.  (Not pictured: also smelly.)

My biggest girl and my littlest girl, already forming a lifelong bond.  I have to take a second to brag on Penelope here.  She is so affectionate and in love with Ophelia.  She is so helpful to and considerate of me.  She is a large part of why this postpartum season is going so well - she has taken such good care of us.

Second Christmas!  Two weekends ago, my family came down for Cousin Christmas, and it was the best kind of madhouse.

My mom, meeting Ophelia.  (Well, technically, they met earlier in the day, but I failed to get a photo then, so just pretend.)

A rare eyeball sighting.  And here is where I take a second to brag on Atticus.  He is so, so good with Ophelia, and often says how excited he is to be a dad someday.  He is more shy about asking to hold her, so I have to think to offer him the chance, but when I do, he jumps on it.  The other day, he asked if I would start relying on him more when I need help with Baby Things.  Gosh, he's sweet.

Rocco, marching to the beat of his own drum, as usual.

Lolo, cute as a button, as usual.  Also, she turned eight-and-a-half.  Also, she is still in clothes made for five-year-olds.  She is literally the size of a button.

Homeschool has continued to keep us trucking along - we are back in the Ancients again this term, and reading the story of the Iliad.  We're also diving more into science topics than we have in previous years - a biography of Archimedes, the history of the discovery of the elements and the periodic table, a Rachel Carson book on the ocean, and a worldview book examining the merits (and the overwhelming lack thereof) of evolutionary theory.  We just finished reading the Hobbit as our literature pick.  Not a single boring book this term.

I love our homeschool method - it's primarily a lot of cuddling on the couch and reading together, which is so conducive to a lifestyle of Constant Newborn-ing.  Our life feels very organic, like it all fits together so naturally.

Rocco, rocking another signature look and being just the best big brother.  It's hard to believe he has three younger sisters - he still seems so little!  But he already looks out for them so well - they're lucky girls.

Finneas got a stop motion movie kit for Christmas, and after my mom was able to help us set it up on my laptop (she's a whiz with computers, whereas I am very tech-stupid), the boys were off and running.  And they've already produced a couple of genuinely good shorts.  I'm very impressed.

I pulled out the Magic Bouncer and Ophelia immediately took to it.  If you've been around the blog long, you've heard me sing the Bouncer's praises before.  Keep your baby swings and your high-tech doo-dads.  This is the best baby item ever.

I discovered a few fortune cookie inserts Laurelia made: "You will be robd (robbed)."  "You will love somone and they will love you backe."  "You will hav a bad fochin (fortune)."  "Covid will end."

Girlfriend continued to be THE CUTEST IN THE WORLD.  Like I always say about the Van Voorst children: "Not an uggo in the bunch."

Our living room has progressed from "home office" to "hoarder lair/fallout bunker."

THIS TINY NUGGET IS ONE MONTH OLD ALREADY!  She has grown SO MUCH over the last week, I really can't even believe it.  She hit a rocky patch around three weeks, where she spent a couple nights awake for stretches at a time, but other than that, she continues to be a rockstar sleeper.  So she is eating well, sleeping well, and generally just the easiest baby the world has ever known.

Special Sunday breakfast, courtesy of Todd, who is still taking such great care of us.  I haven't folded a load of laundry or loaded the dishwasher in five weeks.  He has juggled so much - his own work, my work, sleep disruptions, and sickness (he has had a couple days of headaches so terrible that he vomits) - that I can't really adequate express my thankfulness, or even fully understand how he has done it all, and with cheerfulness to boot.  Todd Van Voorst, you are out of my league.

AND HE BROUGHT ME FLOWERS.  What a gosh darn catch.

Atticus continues to hone his artistic skills.

Rocco continues to hone his fashion sense.

My other right-hand gal, who is always cheerfully looking for ways to serve and take care of us.  What a blessing she is.

Rocco is in love with both his sister and his gloves.

SEESTERS!

Assertion: Cutest baby in the world.  Evidence? Exhibit Y.

Wait.  I think all the Van Voorst babies are tied for Cutest Baby in the World, as evidenced by Exhibit Z.  Like I said, not an uggo in the bunch.

And now, I must leave you here so I can go cuddle and smell my newborn before she's no longer a newborn.  (I'm not even a little sorry - I love you to pieces, but you don't hold a candle to Ophelia when it comes to how I want to log my hours.)  Have a great weekend!

what's up weekly. (TWO feast days, and a return to real life.)

Well, this week marked the return of certain levels of 'normalcy' around here.  While I am still trying to prioritize laying low and healing, I also can't put all of my real life on complete hold for the six weeks I set aside for intentional postpartum rest.  Todd went back to work on Tuesday, which was also the day we started back to school and I took back over as much of the normal grind as is necessary to keep the house running and the kids fed.

First snowy day of the winter.  Our house kind of looks like a bomb went off.

Because there was such a rough stretch there in the last few months of pregnancy, with nearly a month of dealing with Covid in there, plus then taking time off for birth and recovery and the holidays, we are now playing a bit of catch up.  But we're not nearly as behind as I assumed we would be - I honestly can't remember if we did school when I was sick, but I had assumed we hadn't.  Luckily, though, we're only a few days off of schedule, so maybe we did actually do school in there.  Either way, we should be close to caught up after today.

My biggest challenge with the new transition is that Ophelia spends a 6-7 hour stretch each day awake and wanting to cluster feed.  I actually don't mind it, because she is such a rockstar sleeper at night (two nights ago, she gave me a seven hour stretch, went back to sleep, and I had to wake her up two hours later to start the day!).  Her rhythm makes sense to me and works well, but it means that for 6-7 hours of our school/home/meal time, I am not really able to get off the couch or use both my hands at once.

Why so seriousssss? I mean, awake.  Why so awake?

The kids have really stepped up and helped, though, and after a bit of an overwhelming first day back on Tuesday, things have settled in much more smoothly and I would say they're going really well.

My midwife came yesterday morning to check on us.  (Another benefit of home birth: you do not have to take your postpartum self or your tiny newborn infant out into 16-degree weather to sit in waiting rooms full of sick people.  The appointments come to you.)  I feel like I'm physically and emotionally recovering really well.  And Ophelia is getting big - already 9 lbs, 9 oz!  

I am finding I've been craving a lot of red meat, root vegetables with raw butter, raw milk (some days I drink almost two quarts!), oat-based baked goods, and some red wine.  I may or may not have cooked an entire chuck roast just to keep in the fridge for quick meals and snacks for me.  Weird much?  But I think it has really helped with nursing to eat what feels nourishing, and she has been eating and sleeping well, and growing quickly, so I think it has helped start us off on a good foot. 

Hmm, what other news is there to share?  Oh yes, last Friday was New Years Eve!  We started a new tradition of a lunchtime popcorn party with Harry Potter, and maintained our established tradition of cheeseboard for dinner.  

Todd, Penelope and Rocco each wrote and recited original poems about the past year, and Atticus and Finneas drew portraits of our family.  I think this is one of my favorite family traditions, and it has kind of sprung up on its own.  I'll post the poems soon, but in the meantime, here is Atticus' drawing.  (In true, complete, endearing Finneas fashion, Finneas lost his before he could share it with us.  Is anyone remotely surprised by this?)

Here is how Callista felt about being drawn with "short hair."  (You will notice in the photo that her hair is, indeed, still short.  But she feels this was a misrepresentation and is now suing Atticus for libel.)

Her eye is black because she fell backwards off the piano bench and smacked her face on the edge of the table.  Rough stuff.

Our Christmas celebrations are coming to an end.  Yesterday was Epiphany, so we celebrated with (you guessed it!) another cheeseboard feast.  Juni found the bean in her piece of our King Cake, so she was Queenie Beanie for the rest of the night.

We wrapped up the Christmas season with a few of our favorite Christmas season movies this week - Charlie Brown Christmas, and The Chronicles of Narnia.  A few months ago, I found some imported  Turkish Delight at Marshall's, of all places.  So I surprised the kids with it after our viewing of Narnia.  I have to say, it isn't nearly as good as The White Witch's magic ones look in the movie.  But isn't that always the case with stuff from the White Witch?  It always looks better than it turns out to be in reality.  (Insert youth group sermon illustration here.)

And a few other items of note this week:

Natural Grocers ran a killer sale (25% off everything in the store! Even on-sale items!), so while I hate to leave the house during my postpartum weeks, I just couldn't pass it up since we rely on a lot of things I can only get there.  We got bundled up and Todd drove us all there, but I went inside on my own.  It was nice to get out of the house without overexerting myself.

Getting Ophelia ready to go out in the cold involves not ONE adorable hat, but TWO adorable hats.

Todd finished my new coffee table!  He did an amazing job!  I took the following photos to capture the 'before'.  Our old coffee table was basically an oversized basket.  Cute, but starting to fall apart after eight years of daily use.  (The hole in the top of it is so much worse than it even looks.  The whole surface is collapsing, so you can't really even set anything on it, especially if you need it to remain level.  The edges have sharp metal spikes poking out at regular intervals where the basket material has disintegrated - the kids' clothes catch on them all the time and rip.  It is bad.)  Unfortunately, I forgot to take an "after" photo with the new table in place.  (Derr.)  So I'll have to show you next week.  But believe me when I say it looks GOOD.  

The coffee table is the main surface in my home office/magpie nest.  It takes a beating.

This 'before' photo doesn't do it justice.

Lolo and I did some sewing and baking this week.  She made muffins, and we worked on a blanket for Ophelia.  (She bought the flannel for it herself.)

Penelope has become obsessed with Bananagrams, so there has been a lot of that going on around here.  She also has been my LIFESAVER when I need a few moments to shower or eat - she is so good with Ophelia, and finds a lot of joy in being with her.

And, well, dang.  That was kind of a full blog post for a week that was supposed to be a 'rest/recovery' week.  But I did a lot of resting in there too.  We are at a good spot, and I am feeling good.  Here's to more full and restful weeks!