Ortlieb Family Photos!

Yes, I fully realize it's been like 2 years since I've posted to this blog. Life goes on, what can I say? However I want to give you a glimpse into our life by posting our most recent photos taken by a tried and true professional photographer - Erin Moore from Mercy Street Studios. It was so long overdue and we finally have our youngest in our family portrait - only took us 5 years! :)

Damien Walking?

It's hard to say exactly when Damien's first steps were.  Like everything else in his short life, Damien refuses to be pigeonholed into a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g!  He technically took his first steps by his first birthday and was even caught cruising around the living room holding onto furniture.  But it would be a very long time before he actually became an independent toddler.  We're not sure if he just thought crawling was faster or safer or what - maybe even just decided he didn't want to do it so he didn't (which is more than possible in Damien's world).  I'm happy to announce though that he finally is officially a toddler now, preferring the mode of two-legged ambulation over the four-legged crawl.  It only took him 21 months to decide to do it.

Here is a video of him right in  the middle of his transition from baby to toddler.

Celebrations

After finally downloading all the images captured on our camera in the last few months, I realized I had a bunch of pictures to share with you.  So I'll get right on that and start with the boys' birthdays.  Here are some pics from both Jayce's, Reagan's and Landon's birthdays.

Not sure why Jayce felt the need for sunglasses...lol

Make a wish and blow!

Reagan requested a "cookie" cake.

Landon wanted a robot cake.  This was my best try...

Happy (early) Holidays!

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving.  Even more, I can't believe I actually just ordered our Christmas photo cards!  Thanks to Shutterfly's holiday card sale ending tonight (and yes, I know they'll have many more sales between now and Christmas), it put just enough pressure on me to get on the ball early this year.  Maybe most of you will actually receive our Christmas cards before Christmas this year!!! :)  I know, I know - that would just make your holiday, wouldn't it?  And speaking of making your holiday, I'm even going to give ya'll a sneak peek of our holiday card.  Here it is:

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Now that just made your Thanksgiving, didn't it?  I thought so.

O Happy Day!

Though Lauryn has been a born again Christian for many years, she's just recently decided to take the plunge and be baptized.  I think many people questioned her sanity when she announced she wanted to be baptized IN THE OCEAN ONLY, and here it was the middle of October!  So on a bright, sunny day with a high of 55 degrees, we made our way to the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of Maine to see Lauryn take this significant step.  Here is the full video of her baptism for those who missed it so you can rejoice along with us:

Two Wheelers

One of the things I've always disliked about the places we've lived is they are not good places for kids to learn to ride a bike.  Maybe my perception is a bit flawed since I grew up on a dead-end street which is a *perfect* place to ride a bike.  But trying to teach a child to ride on a road where one is constantly keeping an eye out for traffic can be a little nerve-wracking.  Not to mention all the cars parked on the side that present wonderful learning opportunities for one's child to learn about stopping...fast.  So up until now we've* had to take the boys to the nearby park to teach them how to ride.  Which is a bit more inconvenient than just stepping outside one's door and using one's driveway or, like I said, non-busy road.  This is why we have a 9-year-old who is just now learning how to ride without training wheels.  Granted, he's spent the last year or two practicing without training wheels, however I can count on my two hands how many times he's been able to do that.  The nice part about having an older child now though is seeing the common sense that starts to grow in their little brains which makes it easier to let them ride on one's own street.  Having the ability to keep a lookout for cars is enormously helpful.  So now as I sit here at the computer typing, I'm also keeping an eye on the boys who are enjoying riding up and down our street.

Here is Mike videotaping the boys riding on their bikes for the first time this season.  Notice Reagan's brand new neon green bike.  This video is also an example of why we wear our helmets at all times.




And even Damien got into the action with his own wheels. :)


Why did the baby cross the street?  To check out the Cherokee!


Update: Jayce is now a speed demon on his bike and Reagan has never gone as fast since his fall. Landon, who inherited Reagan's small bike, prefers to "practice to run" on the sidewalk instead.



* What am I saying?  Of course we are not teaching our boys to ride bikes.  I give Michael full credit for taking on these kinds of challenges all by himself while I nervously watch.  Or rather ideally not watch at all and hide inside the house pretending there is no possible way for my children to get seriously injured during an expected and natural childhood activity. (See video above for example.)

Easter's Here!

I came across an online article showing how to dye eggs naturally.  Since I hate the idea of my kids having their breakfast consist of Eggs a la Red #2 and hate the idea of throwing out the eggs even more, I decided this was something we should try.  However I only had a couple of the suggested food items to make a couple different colors.  The rest would have to be soaked in Blue #4 and Yellow #782 (or ya know, whatever numbers they tag onto the so-called edible colorings).  Mike and I turned the fun into a homeschool experiment/family night project and were pleasantly surprised by the results.  See if you can tell the naturally-dyed eggs from the unnaturally-dyed eggs:

So yes, there was no comparing the bright neon-blue and green eggs to the natural dyes, but we actually preferred the look of the natural eggs (last 5 eggs on the right after the blue and green eggs).  Mike thought they looked more "earthy" and liked the softer colors.

Eggs courtesy of Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Blue #1, Red #3 and Blue #2

For the pink dye, we used juice extracted from beets mixed with some vinegar.  The three pink eggs shown here (on the right) are eggs dyed in the beet juice at various lengths of time - you can see the longer you soak them in it, the pinker they become.  We then chose to leave an egg in the beet juice all night which made it almost a burgundy color (see top photo - next to the blue egg).

The two most surprising results were the purple egg and the yellow egg.  The purple egg was a last-minute thought after noticing the wine glass full of Cabernet Sauvignon on the table. (Yes, Mike brought some home and was actually drinking it with dinner.  I know, who *is* he and where is my husband??)  After dipping it straight in the wine (obviously no need for vinegar here), it came out a beautiful dusky purple.

Turmeric egg on upper right

The yellow egg was achieved from soaking in a bowl of warm water with turmeric and vinegar.  At first, we thought there was no way it was going to come out very yellow as the turmeric kept settling to the bottom of the bowl and each time we checked on the egg, it was a only tinted a very light yellow.  However when all was said and done, it actually did a better job than the yellow dye.

Overall, we felt the natural method of dyeing Easter eggs was so effective, we'd like to try again next year and with even more colors such as green and blue (we were missing the spinach and blueberries this time).  It didn't take up a huge amount of time to make the dyes (about the same time it took us to boil the eggs), and I feel a whole lot better about eating the naturally-dyed eggs than the others. We highly recommend you try it!

Our "Natural" Eggs

Happy Easter!

I took advantage of a great little offer from Shutterfly and decided to create Easter cards for close family to enjoy. You can see it below.  May you too have a wonderful and blessed Easter!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Handling Haikus

This year we have been studying geography pretty in depth, thanks to Expedition Earth homeschool curriculum, and we love it!  In our study of Japan earlier in the school year, we came across the practice of writing haikus.  (See definition below.) The boys wanted to share their haikus with you so please enjoy.

*hai-ku
noun, plural 
1. A major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons.
2. A poem written in this form.

This is Jayce's haiku:

Bohdan is my friend.

He took a long trip to France;

I miss him a lot.

Here is Reagan's:

Christmas is coming -
My favorite holiday.
So is my birthday.

On a funny note, I just came across Visual Latin's haiku of the day which made us laugh.

It reads:
Haikus are easy.
But sometimes they don't make sense.
Refrigerator.


*From dictionary.com

God-given Godparents

I never grew up knowing much about godparents nor the concept behind assigning godparents to one's children.  As far as I knew, it was a Catholic thing so naturally, as a non-denominational fundamental Protestant (say that 5 times fast!), I didn't have a clue.  But once Michael and I started having children, I just knew that somehow in someway we had to publicly and symbolically include our best friends into our family tree.  Now I still may not know exactly the correct ritual or role of godparents in the church, however for us, it means that not only are Dave and Erin spiritual guardians of our children (beyond us, of course), but also legal guardians if something were to ever happen to us.  They are, in all accounts, God-parents of my children.  And I know it's something they take seriously.  We're very fortunate to have them in our lives and my boys will always have another set of parents looking out for them...physically and spiritually. 

Damien getting to know Erin & Vivi

Though Dave & Erin and kids have up and moved to France for the next year, we're missing them and staying in touch via Skype (video conference calling). It was very important to Erin that Landon not forget them and that Damien start to learn who they are over the course of this coming year.  Though they've just recently left, we're already looking forward to their return!

Baby Update

Well, things are starting to get a bit calmer and happier around here.  I said, "starting".  Damien still won't let us put him down for long periods of time, but Michael was so excited when he was able to make breakfast without interruption because baby was content being in the exersaucer for 25 whole minutes!  And two days ago, he rolled over for the first time.  I only know this because he took a nap on his belly (the only way he'll sleep probably due to colic) then woke up screaming.  When I went to go check on him, he was on his back.  I think the rolling over scared him hence the piercing screams. We're finally getting more smiles now as well.  Check out the dimples:

Damien's Arrival

Damien Berube was born on February 2, 1647 in Normandy, France.  In June of 1671, he sailed to North America and arrived in Quebec as the first Berube to settle on this continent.  Twelve generations later, his great-grandson Damien made his own arrival to this world.  This is baby Damien's birth story:

With my previous history of HELLP syndrome, the doctors were keeping a watchful eye on me and ordering occasional blood tests.  The glucose intolerance was well under control by diet and because of this, I was able to escape more extensive tests such as repetitive non-stress tests and ultrasounds.  The baby seemed big and healthy, and at 38 weeks there was no sign of HELLP.  However because of low platelets, my doctor wanted to test me again a week later.  At 39 weeks, my tests came back showing that my platelets had dropped even more and my liver enzymes had started to rise.  Because of this, the call was made to induce me.

Now my doctor knew I was all kinds against induction, however since I'm all kinds *more* against HELLP and an emergency C-section, I decided to go ahead with the induction.  Since I had been contracting almost every day for a couple weeks and even started contracting on the way to the hospital that day, my hope was that my body was ready for labor and my prayer was that God would make this induction quick and easy.  It took a couple hours to start the Pitocin after arriving, and by the time it was 8pm, I was mentally preparing myself (i.e. freaking out) for the hard work ahead.  

Labor started easily enough and from the very beginning, contractions were steady and increasing.  Since my naturopath's last words to me were, "Stay on your feet as much as possible," I stood up most of the time especially in the beginning.  For some reason, I did not want to lie down and did so only when I hit my wall of fatigue because it was so late at night and way past my bedtime.  Most of the time I was standing, kneeling, sitting, rocking back and forth, just about every position in the book.  I did take advantage of the bathroom jacuzzi for a bit but knowing I wasn't able to give birth in the water (against hospital's regulations), I was only in there for some of my transition period.  All this time they were steadily increasing the Pitocin to bring on stronger contractions, and by the time I got out of the water, the Pitocin drip was at 10cc's (max is 30 cc's).  After rocking in the rocking chair for a little bit, I finally started to feel that blessed pressure of baby's head and wanted my doctor to check me and see if I was fully dilated yet. 
They suggested sitting on a birthing stool (an interesting contraption I've never used before), and things went very quickly after that.  In fact, as I hear it, the baby's head descended so quickly the doctor had to catch him one-handed (she didn't have a glove on her other hand yet), flipped him over in mid-air and sat him down on the pillow underneath me.  They then handed him to me immediately, and holding one's baby while it is still attached to one's body is a strange but exhilarating feeling.  His APGAR scores were 9 and 10 - great scores that I attribute to our waiting to cut the umbilical cord until it stopped pulsing.  He was pink and beautiful!  And he was big - 9 lbs (and he was early)!

Overall, I have to say this labor was my favorite labor.  I felt more aware of everything going on.  I had Erin reading Bible verses to me and Michael playing relaxing music throughout labor.  I had the prayers of every one of my lovely friends and family members, and the support of some great doctors.  Even though I was not able to give birth at home (which would have been my ideal plan), the hospital allowed us freedoms we have never taken advantage of before in previous labors.  The Lord provided us with a wonderful birth experience and most precious of all, a beautiful, healthy baby boy.  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Everything We Learned, We Learned from Cartoons

So our best friends took their family to France and swapped houses with a French family...for a whole year!  Anyway, Michael and I started talking about the differences in nature between France and New England.  It all started when he offered the French family produce from his garden and handed them a veggie they had never seen before.  It was summer squash.  So it brought up the question, "I wonder what other things they'll experience here that they've never seen before in nature?"  It got me to thinking about raccoons.  And possums.  I mentioned to Mike that I thought raccoons were a distinctly American creature.  Because in the Disney movie, Pocahontas, John Smith didn't recognize the raccoon as a familiar animal.  Then I asked Mike about skunks - do they live worldwide or just here?  That's when he pointed out that they must live in Europe as well.  After all, Pepe Le Pew was French.

38 Weeks & Counting

Now that I'm nearing the end of this pregnancy, I have to say I'm fairly surprised at how well I'm doing.  This is, after all, my fifth child and I'm no spring chick anymore!  With the exception of being diagnosed with gestational diabetes, there have been absolutely no problems with this pregnancy as of yet (I say "yet" because I know HELLP doesn't typically show up until around now so we are keeping a close eye on that - so far so good).

The gestational diabetes has been an interesting journey for me this time around.  The last time I had any problems with sugar was being pregnant with Lauryn 19 years ago, and they called me "glucose intolerant" and I only had to cut out sugar from my diet.  Apparently, these days, they are much more conservative, not only with testing, but with the treatment of it.  I've had the pleasure of sticking my fingers 4-5 times a day to check my sugars with a glucometer, recording them and then reporting my numbers to the diabetic center every week.  It was a bit rough in the beginning as my fasting sugars (those taken first thing in the morning before eating) just refused to stay within limits.  Because of this, the doctors put me on insulin every night before bed and then kept upping the dosage. After two weeks of the insulin shots (ouch!) and seeing absolutely no improvement, I stopped the shots AMA and started experimenting with what worked to actually keep my sugars down.  Surprise, surprise - it was not insulin that kept my fasting sugars within limits; it was protein!  Yes, if I eat a piece of protein just before bed (typically a plain hamburger), my sugars look great in the morning.  I think the doctors think I'm cheating or something.

Anyway, with the awareness of once again being glucose intolerant, I've had to be very careful with my meals - what I eat, when I eat, how many times I eat, etc.  Because my body is a protein-type and it has always done very well with high protein, low-carb diets in the past, I feel better than ever at this stage in my pregnancy.  Now I'm not technically on an Atkins diet or anything like that as eating too low-carb could be dangerous for the baby.  I just need to be careful with how many carbs I have and what kind I'm eating.

The baby seems to be doing very well and is as active as ever.  I've had way more contractions in this pregnancy than any other - my hope is I'll be halfway through labor by the time I'm in it! lol  My commute to the hospital is just about an hour which is a little nerve-racking, but being one who typically has longer labors, I'm not too worried about it.  For peace of mind though, I did buy an emergency birth kit to keep at home and bring in the car on the way to the hospital....just in case. :)  It's hard to believe within 3-4 weeks, our little boy will be here!

And for those wanting to know what I look like at this point in the game, here's me with the baby belly!

An Ortlieb Family Short Film - 5 Stars!

Turn up your speakers, make it full-screen by clicking on the bottom right of the video screen (if your computer can handle that) and ENJOY!!!

A Quiet Kind of Guy

Having a child who doesn't speak much would seem to be a blessing to many.  Though all my children tend to be on the quieter side (we highly value peace and quiet in our home), our last child took it one step further and decided not to speak at all.  Though I wasn't worried about this and assumed it was a simple speech delay (hey, he'll be talking by the time he's 16, right?), I received a notification in my mailbox one day about a new speech therapy office opening in town and made the decision to go check them out.  A very quick and easy evaluation showed us he was almost a year behind in language skills.  I still wasn't too concerned, knowing all too well that speech delays can fix themselves and children can start talking in complete sentences at a later age.  But as he continued, the therapist became more sure that he did not in fact have a simple speech delay but rather seemed to be showing signs of a speech motor planning problem.  Well, that's a mouthful...  I may not have quite understood what it meant when she said it, but it was enough to bring his "deficit" sharply into focus and me running to do my research on what that meant.
My therapist was (and is) very cautious not to label him or give an official diagnosis of anything until he can speak more.  As she explained, it's quite impossible to diagnose a speech problem without any speech; it's only when one hears the child say their letters, words and sounds that one can diagnose based on the arrangement, order and sounds of their vocalizations.  So though Landon still only says a few words at most, based on my description of his words and his attempts at sounds, the therapist is theorizing it could be apraxia. So what does this mean?  We're not really sure.

Developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) occurs in children and is present from birth. It appears to affect more boys than girls...DAS is different from what is known as a developmental delay of speech, in which a child follows the "typical" path of speech development but does so more slowly than normal.

The cause or causes of DAS are not yet known. Some scientists believe that DAS is a disorder related to a child's overall language development. Others believe it is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to send the proper signals to move the muscles involved in speech. However, brain imaging and other studies have not found evidence of specific brain lesions or differences in brain structure in children with DAS.

Children with developmental apraxia of speech generally can understand language much better than they are able to use language to express themselves.

The severity of both acquired and developmental apraxia of speech varies from person to person. Apraxia can be so mild that a person has trouble with very few speech sounds or only has occasional problems pronouncing words with many syllables. In the most severe cases, a person may not be able to communicate effectively with speech, and may need the help of alternative or additional communication methods.

Children with developmental apraxia of speech will not outgrow the problem on their own. Speech-language therapy is often helpful for these children...1

Landon's speech motor planning problem was described to me like this: when a word forms in his brain and he tries to speak it, the message may not reach his mouth or his mouth can't physically form the word properly.  Usually children learn to say a word and over time and with practice can master the sound of that word.  Muscle memory plays a vital role in remembering how to say a word, moving your muscles in such a way to correctly pronounce that word.  With apraxia, there is a muscle memory deficit so even if a child accomplishes in saying a word, they may not be able to say it correctly again. Words can come out in a jumble of sounds not making any sense.  This can lead to frustration on the part of the child and the parents.  Because Landon has opted to stay quiet and only say a few words, the frustration hasn't set in for him yet, however the therapist is very quick to caution us to find ways to circumvent this potential frustration.  This has lead us to learn more sign language.  While Landon learns how to speak, he can supplement the words he can't speak with sign.  We have always used baby signs for the boys as they grew up and know very basic signs, but our education in ASL will take us to a new level.  Landon will continue speech therapy once a week while also learning more signs from various resources (books, DVDs, a friend of mine who comes in weekly to teach us some new signs).

Another idea we've introduced is having him listen to complex music.  It's been shown that listening to music, a typically right-brained activity, can help bridge the gap to the left side where the speech center of the brain is found. We now have classical music playing in the background on a daily basis and enjoy the peace it brings along with the intellectual stimulation.  We can just feel our brain neurons multiplying! lol

The power of music to affect memory is quite intriguing. Mozart's music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activate the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information. The information being studied activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, causes the brain to be more capable of processing information.2

We are excited to see how Landon develops and, in turn, our whole family develops as we delve into sign language and into a more musical world.  Jayce and Reagan will be learning the violin this year and studies have shown that the earlier we can get our children to learn and practice an instrument, the more intelligent they'll be.  I'm hoping this all rubs off on Landon in a very positive way and have him talking normally -or in fluent sign - in no time!


1. From the NIDCD site.
2. From the website Cerebromente.

My Last Big Temptation

Last night we threw my parents a 40th anniversary party with a Hawaiian theme.  That meant besides the garish fake flower decorations, plastic leis and funny tabletop palm trees, we also had some amazing food - enough tropical fruit to fill a grocery aisle, delicious hor d'oeuvres like mini quiches, pastry puffs, crackers and cheese, pita chips and hummus, a chocolate fondue bar with everything imaginable to dip and a whole roast pig. Yup, it was a bonafide pig roast!  After making my favorite recipe of my mom's potato salad as well as a huge crockpot of Hawaiian baked beans, I knew this party was going to be my biggest temptation yet.  As everyone chowed down on the goodies, I stood there with my chicken and romaine salad with orange pieces and satisfied myself with the sights and smells of the amazing banquet.  I knew I could eat strawberries yet somehow I got to the end of the night without eating a one.  I did however have two tiny bites of moist pork just to see what it tasted like - that was the extent of my cheating.  But before I could pat myself on the back for being so good, there was still the cake.

When I ordered the cake, I ordered it from what has become my favorite cake place, Ceres Bakery in Portsmouth.  Thanks to my best friend, she introduced me to this bakery, it being the place where she got her wedding cake (thank you, Erin!).  So I decided to go for it and order a coconut creme cake, a flavor I have yet to try.  You can see the amazing job they did with it...  You can only imagine the agony I went through helping to cut that cake and NOT take even one taste of it.  By the time I was done serving, I had coconut creme filling all over my hands which I had to go. wash. off. my. hands!  That's right, not even one little lick.  However, I did cut a big piece off and take it home and freeze it right away - I'm not stupid.

Though I had to exercise complete control and severe deprivation last night, I had a fabulous time and proved to myself I could get through something like that without failing.  My crowning achievement came even before the party started when I slipped on a cute sundress that hadn't fit me before and now was perfect!  It was definitely worth it.


P.S. Even with my two bites of pork, I still lost 0.4 lbs from yesterday.  :-)

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Savannah - My Kind of Town

We started our day off in Savannah at the Railroad Museum much to Landon's delight as he's all about the trains! Most trains were off-limits for climbing, but there were some that we were allowed on, and one luxury train we were able to tour. There was also a small play train for the boys to climb on, and a model of a train set inside. The boys thought it very fun.



Afterward we went on a trolley tour of downtown Savannah which revealed many fascinating stories about the city's history and included driving around all the many park squares (including the one which held the Forrest Gump bench found in the movie) they have as well as passing by beautiful homes and buildings. The architecture is amazing, and the city itself oozes such Southern charm. Here are some of the photos we took...



After our day trip around Savannah, we stopped at Paula Deen's restaurant to see if we could get a bite to eat (not a huge Paula Deen fan, but knew enough about her to be curious about her restaurant), but unfortunately due to construction on the streets around it, the restaurant didn't even have electricity and water so no luck there! Instead we stopped at another restaurant right off the riverwalk which served us some good 'ole Southern food. Lauryn and I then boarded the Ghosts & GravestonesTours of Savannah to check out the spookier sights and sounds of the city where we had a lovely (albeit cheesy) ride on the tour bus listening to the actress spin her tales of ghost lore. We thought we were actually going to be able to visit a home featured on Ghost Hunters (we realized we had an older brochure touting this benefit) and officially proclaimed haunted, but alas we drove right by it much to Lauryn's and my chagrin {and truth be told, relief too}. But we were able to take a couple pictures of it...



Lauryn and I really fell in love with Savannah because it was a full-scale city with a down-home feel to it. Out of all that we got to see and experience down South, this was by far the favorite of our travels. We certainly would love to go and visit again, not only to experience their wonderful hospitality but also to further explore its rich history and beauty.