the appearance of Cala Grace

I feel like I've lost most of November.  We thought we were going to have an October baby, so we spent weeks preparing and waiting for our second little girl to make her appearance.  But she decided she wanted to do things on her own time table, so we kept waiting.  At a week past her due date, we had a non-stress test to make sure she was still doing pretty well.  Everything looked good, so we went home to wait a little longer.  I'd been having steady contractions 10 minutes apart for 5 long days, so I was growing pretty weary of the waiting.  Shortly after we got home that afternoon, the contractions let up for the first time in days.  Since I was pretty sure that wouldn't last, I decided to take advantage of the reprieve so I went to bed at about 7 o'clock Saturday night, Nov 5. 

I woke up with a pretty strong contraction shortly after 1 (or was it 2? I can't figure out how the whole daylight savings time change thing works) Sunday morning.  Glad I had gotten some rest, I tried to get comfortable for another long night of contractions.  The next one came about 10 minutes later, just like before, but PAINFUL! And then I was wet.  At that time of night, I wasn't thinking too clearly and I wasn't that wet, so  I figured I must have peed my pants.  Crazy, right?  So I changed and got back into bed only to find myself wet again.  The next contraction came just a couple minutes later, and I suddenly realized my water had probably broken and these contractions had gone from 10 minutes apart to 3 or 4 minutes.  I yelled for Kevin to call his mom so she could come stay with the kids, and it is time to go NOW!

We called the midwife on the way in to town so she could meet us at the hospital.  Since it was the middle of the night, we had to be triaged in the ER.  The nurse asked if my water had broken and I thought so, but I wasn't sure.  She kind of scoffed at me and said I would know if it had.  Apparently, this little girl wanted to be different, because I was now completely dry, but it was definitely time for her to show up.  We finally got up to labor and delivery at about 2:30.  The nurses asked me a bunch of questions while Amy put in my IV and then they ushered me into the tub.  I really didn't want to mess with any drugs because my pattern seems to be that I labor so fast, they never even get a chance to work before the baby comes. 

The tub was wonderful!  The contractions were coming pretty quickly, but I still had a minute or so to rest between them for a while.  But then, out of the blue, I was hot and I wanted out of that tub! Amy kinda shoved me back down and told me to wait for that contraction to pass when here comes another one!

I have to push!

Somebody called for Kevin to come in before he missed his baby being born.

Reach down and feel your baby's head.  Here she is.  Cala Grace.

The tub was great.  The waterbirth was totally unintended.  It's not actually allowed at that hospital and it was the first time in 20 years our nurse had ever seen a baby born in the water.  But I think it was awesome.  No ring of fire, the pain was there and gone so fast.  And like I said before, this little one had to be different.

She was born so fast, we were there less than an hour.  Kevin said he was pacing around the room so the nurse had just told him to sit down and turn on the tv when they all jumped into action.  He did get to see her born, but just from the back of the room.  Poor guy can't remember what hospital our other kids were born in, but he won't soon forget little Cala's birth. 

I'm so thankful she's finally here, and I can't believe it's been a month already.  My sweet girl, my unexpected blessing. The little one I didn't know I longed for. 

first words

When you are the fourth in line, sometimes life is rough. 

Big brothers take your toys. 

Or big sister won't let you chew on her markers. 

But sometimes life is easy... too easy.  You never have to do much to get attention. 

After a year, you still don't feel the need for walking or talking because you have brothers and sister around 24/7 to bring you every toy or tell Mommy you need a snack. 

Until one night you're up a little late and something shiny catches your eye.  You point up at it, look over at Daddy and say "buffoon!!"

That's another rough thing about being number 4, sometimes boys have to play with princess 'buffoons'

ONE!!

I know, I know, it's cliché.  But there is usually a reason for cliché.  I can't believe it's been a year already!  My little guy is growing up and entering that mystical time of toddlerhood. 

Zac has finally figured out how to crawl on his hands and knees rather than slither like a snake on his belly.  But the cake I made for his and Joshua's birthday party sure fit him well.

You know, they say (whoever "they" are) that later babies learn to walk and talk later.  In Zac's case that seems to apply as well, because there is never any shortage of brothers or sister or cousins to help him out.  He even has a cousin to share his birthday with!

What a blessing it is to watch this little one grow and to help him become the man that God wants him to be.  I pray we are up to the task.  Who knows, he might even become a football star! 

(But I think he'll have to stop chewing on the ball first.)



Teeth!!

Isaac has had a rough couple of weeks.  Lots of crying, very little sleeping.  A month ago, he had just the very beginnings of 2 teeth.  Today, at eleven months old, he's working hard on number 7 and 8.  I'd be grumpy, too, if I had 6 teeth slice through my gums in just two weeks!  But they sure are cute!

Zac at 10 months:

He's SO big!!

Mummum is a favorite word, no mama or dada (at least with any intention) but he's decided dinnertime is very important and "mummum" is about all he says until his mouth is full.

(yummy blueberry muffins from the blueberries we picked last month!)

He noticed stairs for the first time on Saturday.

(he also climbed stairs for the first time on Saturday)

Still loves his momma and big sister, but he's starting to warm up to other people now. 

But he's pretty happy on Momma's back. :)

He got his first tooth on Friday, 10 months and one day.  But he won't let anyone check it out. 

He's gotta keep chewing instead.

Fun on the Lake and a Little, Big River

When all was said and done, and we were on our ridiculously long drive home, Kevin and I asked the kids what they thought about our vacation in Minnesota.  We asked for their 3 favorite things that they did.  Their responses varied of course.  Jadon loved tubing with Daddy

and swimming in the lake.

Micah had a great time fishing

and doing the boys vs girls photo scavenger hunt.

Chloe asked to have her birthday on vacation every year, it was obvious she loved being the center of attention.

But the one thing they all said was that they LOVED going to the headwaters of the Mississippi!

It was drissly and dreary that day, but we decided to go anyway.  All the kids ended up soaked, falling into the river at one time or another (sometimes on purpose, sometimes on accident). We all had such a great time and the kids really thought the idea of walking across such a HUGE river was awesome!
Jadon got to cross with Kevin.

And even Lydia made it across with Mark, although convincing her to let Daddy help was quite a trick.

Even Mommy and Zac got a picture taken on the rocks, although we did cheat and cross the little bridge.

(something about slipping on the rocks with a baby strapped to me didn't sound all that appealing)
What great memories we made! And I love that most of the fun was just enjoying God's world!

Get Moving!

Isaac is 8 months old today.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good picture of a moving 8 month old?
This was the first try. Probably a bad idea, trying to get him in the commando crawl. (Please ignore the blue glow from the tv: Daddy was playing Wii)

Here he stops to play. Maybe he'll slow down enough here. Nope.  The toys are way too interesting to look at mommy's camera!

Quick! He's looking!  Never mind.

We almost got this one.  But not quite.

He's taking off again.  No luck Mom!

Dinner time!

Sunday night I was not feeling at all like fixing dinner.  I had made fajitas for lunch, and I really don't think it's necessary to have more than one big meal a day.  But we had used up most of the leftovers and I didn't think of it soon enough to pull a meal out of the freezer, so it was either sandwiches or fajitas again. Then in a flash of brilliance, I figured out how to get a meal like this on the table with little or no effort from me.

Get the seven year old to do it!  I have never been a big fan of kids in the kitchen, mostly because I am not a very patient person.  But on occasion I do let them help.  And Chloe is beginning to be quite a big helper.  She is big enough now to even do the stirring on the stove which makes her feel pretty big and special. 

And this works out really well for me because all I had to do was give her instructions and supervise the process.  She made the entire tatertot casserole from start to finish!  She even chopped the onions!  I did have to put the casserole in the oven, but that was definitely worth it to me. 

Check out the tongue! She was really working hard! Chloe was so proud of herself she even thanked me afterwards for letting her do it.  She's such a big girl and I am so proud of her.

Yeah, I know it's been a while...

But instead of writing about my life, I've been out living it.  So I hope you'll forgive me for my absense.  In the meantime, lots has been happening around here so here's a little update.

You missed Isaac turning 4 months, so here's a shot of that.

                   

He started getting really smiley and happy about this time, but he wasn't really fond of Mommy's big black growth *read: camera* on her face.  But sleeping baby photos are fun anyway, right?

Also, Zac has lost quite a bit of hair and is now sporting this cool mohawk look.

Someday, he's gonna use this shot as an arguement for a real mohawk, I just know it.

What else...  oh yeah, we got a Nintendo Wii a few weeks ago.  The kids love it, and I'll confess, I do too.  We do try to limit screen time, but at least this encourages a lot of activity.  Jadon has the most innocent face begging for the Wii don't you think?

Oh yeah, this guy got a new job!

Kevin is now officially a financial consultant and he's loving every minute of it!  I don't think I tell him enough how proud I am of him.  Love you honey!

So that little recap brings us to now.  Zac actually turned 5 months old yesterday so we had another little photo shoot last night.  I leave you with my favorite shot from that one.  I just love this little guy!

Milestones

Well there is certainly lots going on around here these days.  It seems like my boys have all decided they're going to grow up this week.  Today happens to be Micah's birthday.  Happy Birthday Micah!!  He got to spend his sixth birthday looking for deer in the woods with his Daddy.  What a fun day! 


While Micah is getting a little bigger, he's still the same ball playing kiddo he's always been. But he has certainly added a wealth of football knowledge as well as a serious interest in soccer recently.  So far, his size doesn't seem to be impeding his athletic ability much.

Micah's baby brother also just happened to turn two months old today.  Just look how cute my boys are together.  At least they're cute when they want to be ;)


Isaac has changed quite a bit over the last month.  He still doesn't like the car, but now he does tolerate it under certain circumstances.  We've even discovered that he will take  a MAM pacifier if we insist, but usually he'd just prefer a blanket and a cuddle.  The best part of this new two month old baby is the smiles.  He's decided he loves to play with us first thing in the morning, right after breakfast that is.  He'll smile and laugh at anyone who comes to him for a good ten minutes if he's just eaten.  Baby smiles are just the best aren't they?!

Now for Jadon.  His birthday was last month, but he's decided he's not to be left out of the growing boys' club.  We had an unusually calm week, so he and I spent the better part of Monday through Wed in the bathroom on the potty.  And believe it or not, my boy is potty trained.  If you ask him, he'll be sure to tell you big boys go in the potty and babies go in the diaper.  And Jadon is definitely a big boy!!

Some days I just can't stand the fact that my kids are growing up so fast, but most days I'm so proud.  They are great kids, aren't they?

Best Friends

Do you all have friends like this?

We all graduated together 10 years ago, and we often go months without seeing each other or even talking, but about once a year we get together to shoot the breeze and catch up. And it's just like we pick up where we left off. Most of us live pretty close, an hour or two away, so it's not too tough to get together when we get the hankering. Unfortunately, Val lives all the way over on the west coast so she doesn't get to make it most of the time. We miss you Val!

Over the years, we've grown a little. Adding husbands and then children. Of course I had a little head start. Chloe was a year old and I was pregnant with Micah when all the rest of them got married within just six months of each other. But just look how we've exploded in just 10 years! Brandy and I are due just about a week apart this fall. So we'll be adding 2 more little guys to the mix in just about a month! What will we look like next year?