Pictures of the girls that don't do justice to the cuteness!

Allegra fell asleep like this -- passed out with a bottle, by the toilet!

Trying to grow out her bangs.

Look at Sydney, stylin' the tie-dyed cloth diaper and legwarmers!

Leaner!

Doing my Daddy duties (or is it doodies?)

I've been pretty busy lately. I've been using my Dad's digital video camera to record the boys' soccer games. Then I take them and edit them with my computer. Finally, they get encoded and burned onto a DVD for play on any regular DVD player. At first, it took me several hours to do the editing. Now I've got the basics down. I try to add something new for every game, so that I make the movies look more professional and less amateur-hour-with-Dad. It also helps that the refs at the games are getting better at keeping the game moving and therefore, I have (much) less video to edit. My Dad's camera works like a champ, I just wish that the LCD screen was backlit. It can be hard to see the screen with the (ultrabright Arizona) sun at your back with sunglasses on. Another parent has been taping the games lately, too, and his screen is bright as can be, even from several feet away. In any case, my Dad's camera has given me a great idea of what I want in a camera (when I can afford one, that is).

The kids are doing great. The boys have a love/hate relationship with soccer. They love getting out and running around. They hate not being the center of attention and therefore tend to act out. I think football may be a better fit for these two, considering how often they tackle each other during practice. Allegra like to go with us to the games and practices, but it is hard on me. The way I see it, I am at the games and practices for the boys. I try to do what I can to spend time with her while we are at the games, but she usually ends up screaming and crying before too long. Sydney is getting bigger every day. She started smiling a few days ago and today she really was all smiles. Allegra loves to be near her.

Erika is doing a great job maintaining the fort. Her Mom left last week and I'm back to work, so she's on her own with the 4 kids. So far, things have looked even better than "normal". I'm sure she will have her good and bad days, but on average, she's kicking serious butt right now. I'm especially grateful that she's pretty much taking care of Sydney all night long. With Allegra and the boys, it was 50/50 with her and I. I was a wreck, trying to go to work during the days as well. Now, Erika is doing all of the heavy lifting. On occasion I will help put Sydney to sleep during difficult nights, but more often than not it is Er who is up and down every few hours. What a champ!

Auntie Carol, Grams, and Pa came over for the day last Saturday. They managed to get to the boys' soccer game before halftime and watched the Chivas get blown out (something like 9-0). It's a good thing they don't track winning and losing in the Under-6 league. Carol brought out some carne and pollo which I grilled up. OOOOOOOhhhhhhh boy. Yummie yummie yummie. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Then again, I tend to drool anyway. It was fun having visitors and the kids loved it. Pa gave Sydney a bottle of breastmilk and still managed to eat a couple of burritos single-handedly.

Erika purchased out holiday cards yesterday. We are not the typical everybody-wearing-holiday-colors-or-clothes family. Your more likely to get a card from us with naked kids running around the house or something similar. You've been warned.

On Erika's urging, I went to see our family doc a few days ago. He gave me some nasal steroids for my allergies and some pills for my acid reflux. Unfortunately, as long as we live in Yuma, I will be taking the steroids. And as long as I have a stomach, I'll be taking the pills. I asked the doc if I would be able to play professional sports while I'm on the 'roids, and he looked at me funny. I just hope my nads don't shrivel up. But I was able to mow the lawn for the first time in a month without sneezing and wheezing afterward. I'm not too sure if I will go back to this doc, however. He's too mainstream for me. I asked him about testosterone testing and some other stuff and he blew me off. I also asked about other nutritional supplements and he more or less said that they don't work.

I've been on a weird diet lately. I've been crazing veges like crazy. Last night I ate 1lb of steamed asparagus. That was it. Nothing else. I buy a bag of greens or salad stuff and eat that with some blue cheese or Caesar dressing. I can eat a whole head of broccoli or cauliflower in one sitting. I went to LA a week ago for a seminar with some of my fellow A Brite-ites and we ate at steak joints every night. Outback, Claim Jumper (twice), etc. But each time, I ordered a salad appetizer and steamed/grilled veges to go with my giant hunk-o'-Barney.

I guess it's just another day at the Team Gebhardt household, eh?

The girls

Holding hands

Sydney is 1 month old!

I can't believe it! She is so cute. I've been really busy (wonder why?!?!?!) and so I haven't had much time to update with written info, but here are some pics.

Still doesn't like being put down.


Loves being swaddled (and cuddled)

Yes, I have 3 other kids who are still being fed and clothed while I breastfeed and change diapers 24/7.

Extreme Close-up!

Allegra at 1 month, for comparison.

Pics (As usual, right?)

Sydney, wearing gifts from my online friend Shannon. She MADE the sweater, isn't it gorgeous?

Rory and Tiger, in costumes handmade by Bubbie!


All the kids (minus the newest one) in costumes


Sydney went as one pissed-off pumpkin (hat made by Bubbie)



She is, however, happy when she's eating.

And when she's full and has a clean prefold (in wool shorties handmade by Bubbie)

60 Seconds in the Life of Sydney!

Sisters! with Daddy.

More pics!

The boys before their soccer game


eating Cheerios, just like mommy!


Allegra helps give Sydney a bath





Tiger helps too


And Rory

Clean and cute!


The big kids roughhouse with Daddy.

New pics!

Sydney, born at home!

Sydney was born on 10-14 at 2:32am after 90 minutes of labor -- which was preceded by 2 days of prodromal labor after my water broke. She was born at home in the birth tub and caught by yours truly! She was 8lbs 7oz and 19in, and kind of resembles a sumo wrestler.

However, after her birth, I did not get the placenta out and I had a hemorrhage, so we transferred to the hospital. Charlotte was awesome, she came to the hospital as a "friend who attended my planned unassisted homebirth" and she kept me calm. It was a little scary for a while, but all is well. I had a manual removal of the placenta and a bunch of pitocin and fluids. I feel much better today.

I completely expected the hospital staff to treat me terribly, even call CPS on me (as I've seen it firsthand with clients) but everyone aside from the first nurse was really nice. When asked about my pregnancy and birth, I basically told them everything that they wanted to hear and explained that I'd had a provider in a different state and I had records if they wanted them, blah blah blah. And that was it. I refused vit K, eye drops, vax, and a bath for Sydney, and it was not a big deal at all. We were released after about 24h and now we're home.

Me, during a contraction


Just after her birth (with the back of Charlotte's head)


Allegra and Sydney

I will post more pics later. I'm off to go BREASTFEED! HOORAY!

Newest member of Team Gebhardt

Sydney Michelle Gebhardt was born last night (Oct 14) at 2:32am at home in a homebirth tub. Erika was a champion and really kicked butt. Strong labor started around 11PM and she delivered Sydney without any help from anybody. Sydney weighs 8lbs 7oz, and is 19" long. Erika had some problems delivering the placenta and was bleeding pretty good, so we ended up rushing to the hospital for a manual placenta removal. I think this was just as physically hard for Erika as delivering Sydney. And I'm sure it was a mental letdown to have to go to the hospital. But in the end, all is right. Mom and baby should be home in a day or so.

I'm beginning to think that in order to finally see Sydney as soon as possible, I could walk to the Pacific Ocean and swim to Australia.

Nothing yet on the baby front. I'm really looking forward to my 2 weeks off, along with Bubbie's arrival after that.

Some Recent Pics

We're still a family of 5. We keep waiting for Er to go into labor. It's kind of like Christmas Eve. You keep thinking that tomorrow Sydney will be born. Except on Christmas, you get a pay out. With baby Sydney, we repeat the whole process over again on a daily basis.

Everybody went through a day or two of sickness recently. Allegra has the worst of it and has been snotty for several days now. All she wants to do is cling to you and watch videos. Boy, she really knows how to twist my arm, eh? :-)

The boys first soccer game ended with an ambiguous score. I recall the score being 4-3, with their team winning. However, I reviewed the video and I only count 3 goals for and 3 against. hmmmm. The other parents don't know what to say. Oh well, team pictures are this weekend and practice was canceled yesterday and Monday, too, I believe.

Charlotte (the midwife) and her two kids arrived a week ago. All of the kids get along very well. Samuel, her oldest, loves video games and has been on my computer constantly. I guess this is what it was like with me while I was younger. And I suppose that this is what I have to look forward to with my own kids.

What a week it's been

Wow, it sure has been a strange week. 2 weekends ago I had to work, so I took last Thursday and Friday off. About a week ago, Tiger was playing around and he busted one of his front teeth loose. So on my Friday off, he and I went to Algodones to see our Pediatric Dentist. The x-rays were inconclusive, and she recommended that he stop playing with it to let it re-set itself. Well, that didn't happen. It was so loose this afternoon that I pulled it out. Tiger was so happy because he was going to take it in to Tiny Tots for show and tell tomorrow. Then he'll put it under his pillow and get money from the Tooth Fairy tomorrow night. The whole thing has grossed Er out pretty good.

Karate has been going well. It is a riot watching the kids (not just ours) try to stretch, do crunches and pushups, and then go through the punches and kicks. Half the class just stares at their neighboor. Some of the kids just goof off. The sensei (sp) ends up retying the belts of about 10 kids during each class. It's a good thing he has a sense of humor.

Soccer is just as amusing. Tiger and Rory are the enforcers of the team. They take down anybody that has the ball for too long. I'm beginning to think hockey and football may be a better fit for them.


I was in Anaheim and TJ Tuesday and today. I told my customers not to count on me being available again until the end of October, due to the imminent arrival of Sydney.

Today we made Er's belly cast. She bought some plaster stuff online a few days ago and Angela came over to offer help and expertise. It came out looking pretty good and I took some video of it for posterity. Er wants to paint it to look like the AZ state flag, which I think will look very nice. Angela has tasked me with reinforcing it with some sort of resin so that when it is all done, it can be hung on the wall. Also, she says that it makes a really cool photo if you lay the newborn baby in it.


My new Nextel phone arrived yesterday and I got it up and running tonight. My work-provided t-Mobile phone was costing the company around $750 per month. I alone accounted for some 26% of our TOTAL cell phone bill. This is with approximately 20 other cell phone users on the plan. The $1.39/min cross-border roaming fee was a killer. Nextel's signal (supposedly) penetrates further into Mexico, so I should have a US signal longer. Also, their roaming fee in only $0.69/min. AND they have a $5/month option to call ANY landline and cell line in select border towns for free (although the cell phone system in Mexico still charges you $0.16/call, go figure?) I also dig the fact that my new phone also has walkie talkie capabilities, which 75% of my customer use (and they don't use regular cell service). Now I can actually call my customers instead of having to drive to their factory.

Gotta run, I'm tired.

Jumping on the family blogging bandwagon!

I'm part of a really wonderul website for really "crunchy" moms like me -- moms who don't circumsize or vaccinate, moms who breastfeed and homeschool and homebirth -- and someone on the website recently posted about wanting to make a blog about her kids, for her extended family, as they all live far away. And I thought, that would be PERFECT for us! Our family all lives REALLY far away. (Or we live far from them, at least.) Anyway, as we're about to move from a 5 member Team Gebhardt to a 6 member Team Gebardt, I think it's time to blog.

Yesterday was the boys first day of team soccer practice. Dustin had gone out and purchased really really expensive soccer items for them (cleats, socks, shoes, balls) from a sporting goods store and I went out and returned it all and bought it way cheaper from (evil corporate) Wal-Mart. Yesterday was also really hot and humid (for mid September), the high was 108 and did I mention the humidity? So we went to the church soccer field at 6pm with the kids and their stuff and a ton of water and watched them practice, and Allegra played with 2 cups of water, as she is want to do. (She loves physics. She will take 2 cups of water and pour them in and out of each other all day long. And spill them.) And as I sat next to Dustin in our little plastic beach chairs with towels on them because it was so hot, I thought, "Oh my god. This is it. This is the beginning of spending our lives driving the kids to various practices and games and friends' houses and team events and shelling out a zillion bucks to pay for it all!" Because, seriously, they now have soccer practice on Mondays and Wednesdays, karate on Fridays, and soccer games on Saturdays. They're 4.

The boys team is called... wait for it... The Chivas. For those who don't speak Spanish, that means, The Goats. The Mighty Goats. The Magnificent Goats. The Grass-Chewing Goats.

Over the summer, the boys were in day camp, and one of their sessions was called "All About Me," and they learned all about their (G rated) body parts. The boys took a fascination with their skeletal system, and ever since then they've been telling us, any time something hurts, that their bones are breaking, or broken. And apparently they repeated that all throughout their soccer practice, as afterwards the coach told me that she thinks they're falling apart; they kept telling her their bones were broken.

So we went home, with instructions to practice (even though the coach scheduled the next practice for TODAY, so I'm not sure when exactly we're supposed to practice before today) and everyone took a bath and went to bed and fell asleep in about 4 minutes. (Except for me because I have pregnancy insomnia, but I don't count.) No whining or asking for water or getting up to go to the bathroom, just SILENCE. It was lovely!

I don't have any pictures of soccer practice because our camera is being repaired. We've had a zillion problems with it since we bought it as a wedding gift to ourselves, however I have to say that Nikon always repairs it, and so far it's always been free. And usually gets it back to us pretty fast. So I expect by early next week. Maybe I'll take a pic of the kids with my camera and see if I can upload it. However I do have a pic of the boys in their karate uniforms.