Baby G#3, Preschool, And Updates on the Kiddos

Life is crazy, busy, full of anticipation, and I am just enjoying it before life as I know it gets turned upside down and I have 3 kids under 4 to take care of. The girls keep me busy from about 7:30 am until they go to bed at 8. I have discovered more than ever this summer that I thrive on routine. Some days might feel monotonous, but if you mess with that predictable monotony, I get grumpy. So this summer, our weeks have been filled with a repetition of play time, weekly water park visits with family, housework, baby prep projects, and doctor visits. As usual, we spend lots of mornings out taking a walk, messing around in the garden, filling, cleaning, and refilling the kiddy pool and giving pushes on the swing set. I think Julia would be content to be pushed in her little pink ride-on car (she calls it her "beep beep") or in her swing all day long. Natalie loves helping check on the vegetables and picking whatever happens to have survived all the rain we had in June/July. Things are in a pretty sorry state in the garden at the moment and I'm, well, over it. Pregnant mama has worked hard and couldn't keep up with the persistent Bermuda grass and towering tomato plants that seem to grow another foot and need to be re-staked every few days. There's always next year.

We found out at the end of April that we are expecting another girl! I'll be honest, it took me quite a while to adjust to the news. This pregnancy has been NOTHING like the first two, so I was just sure I was having a boy. But now I am having fun sewing her quilt, making crib sheets and changing pad covers, and even a Christmas stocking. There's no telling when I'll find the time to sew after she arrives, so I might as well get things done while I have a chance. Natalie has named her baby sister Sophia Olaf. Alex and I accepted her choice for a first name, but have made absolutely no progress in picking an acceptable alternative for her middle name.

Tomorrow, we will embark on a new journey as a family: homeschooling. Natalie has been looking forward to preschool for quite a while and soaks up all the information that she can about the world around her. Lately, her interest in letters, sounds, and writing her name has really grown, so I am taking the leap and giving it a go. I am having a very hard time deciding whether or not to do two years of preschool with her because her birthday is so late, or going ahead and starting kindergarten next year. I am a long-term planner, can you tell? The best idea is probably to just wait and see how this whole preschool thing goes and then decide! I am nervous about how our lives are going to change once Sophia is born and I don't want to completely push schooling aside, especially when I know it will be fun and special to spend that time with Natalie. We joined our local homeschool co-op which meets once a week starting in September and has classes for Natalie's age. My social butterfly will love making new friends.

Julia is now 18 months old and is changing quickly from a baby to a full-fledged toddler. Her vocabulary includes about 40 words (not all of which are clear, but close enough that we can interpret what she is trying to communicate), her favorite of which are "I want", "eat", "snack", and "more". Can you guess what her favorite pastime is? Ha ha! The kid can put the food away!!! Her favorite foods are probably raisins, blueberries, cooked carrots, spaghetti, mac n cheese on the rare occasion that she gets it, corn, bananas, applesauce, and yogurt. Really, she loves fruit, cooked veggies, pasta, and sweets, and isn't a fan of most raw veggies and meat unless it is mixed into a soup or casserole or cut up in very tiny pieces and covered in seasoning or sauce. She can sometimes successfully do a forward roll, jumps with both feet off the ground, loves going down slides at the water park and just being in the water in general, story time, dancing, and playing with her big sister. Those two really love each other, which is a huge answer to 9 months of prayer when I was pregnant with Julia. Now I am praying that my three girls will love one another, always include each other, and be like a 3-strand cord that is not easily broken.

Natalie is my big girl. Don't try to tell her she is too little to wear red nail polish (I made that mistake) because she will just tell you, "I am too bigger! I am a big sister!" She keeps an eye on Julia and loves feeling Sophia kick. The other day, she and I were snuggling on the couch at nap time and her back was against my belly. Sophia decided to practice her soccer skills and went a little crazy. Natalie thought it was hilarious getting kicked in the back and the behind by her baby sister. She helps me tremendously from fetching things around the house, to putting things away, helping me grocery shop, picking up after herself, getting herself dressed (even if she does want to change outfits 3 times a day), feeding the dog, getting the mail, and generally being willing to help however I ask her to. She wants mommy and daddy to snuggle with her and rub her back every night before bed. Lately she has been singing along with songs on the radio and it just melts my heart to hear her sing about Jesus. She gets excited when it is my turn to lead worship at church and asks me if I am going to sing. I think there is a good chance that she'll be up there with me some day. Natalie asks me every morning where we are going and who is coming over. If I tell her that we aren't going anywhere or that no one is coming over, she asks to go somewhere and see someone. She loves going to the library, the water park, to her grandparents' houses, to church, and to play with friends. She has been fascinated with ballet for months now and loves wearing tutus, dancing around the house, watching Angelina Ballerina, and watching YouTube videos of real ballet dancers.

So that's life around here in a nutshell. Sophia will make her grand debut in roughly 9 more weeks and then things will really get interesting. I am so nervous about the transition from 2 to 3. Having Julia seemed like a breeze, but now I'm really going to be outnumbered. What if I never get a nap?! I have gotten the hang of the whole two-kids thing and now it's going to change. I just want there to be enough of me to go around and for no one to feel neglected or left out. Despite making progress on a few projects, my to-do list is still a mile long. Some of the things on it aren't important, but it would still be nice to get them done. It'll all come together. And God's grace is sufficient to help me through this next transition!

Julia's Birth Story

I finally finished writing Julia's birth story, but be forewarned, it's a long one (What can I say? I'm a detail person!). Julia was "due" Saturday, January 11. Even though that day came and went with no signs of labor, I wasn't too terribly antsy about still being pregnant. Everyone at church on Sunday commented about what she was going to come and I'd tell them that I hoped the full moon later that week would bring her. To help pass the time, I sewed a valance for the nursery window using the leftover fabric from the baby quilt my mom is making and worked on cleaning out more of my crafting supplies and the desk from the nursery.

On Wednesday the 15th, I started having very mild cramping throughout the day and was hopeful that it meant real labor was imminent. Early Thursday morning, around 4:30, Natalie climbed into bed with us, once again, but I couldn't stay asleep because more painful contractions kept coming every so often. Finally, around 6:30, I got up because I couldn't sleep and began timing the contractions on Alex's phone using a contraction timer app (gotta love technology!). Because the pain wasn't unbearable yet, I figured it was as good a time as any to finally sew a nursing camisole, so I did that while Natalie ate her breakfast. What else do you do during early labor?! Unlike my labor with Natalie, which was just back labor, I was feeling the contractions in the front and the back. It was really hard for me to find a semi-comfortable position during the pain. They kept coming 2-4 minutes apart, but were only lasting 30-45 seconds (or so I thought). I called my doula, M, and let her know what was going on and cancelled my doctor's appointment that was supposed to have been later that morning. Then I went to the bathroom and saw more evidence that things were progressing. My mom came and picked Natalie up around 10:30. Alex and I tidied the house and then I got in the tub to try to help with the pain. After a while in the tub, I felt like things had slowed down, and I was getting bored, so I got out. Many women find water to be helpful for pain management during labor, but it just seems to slow my labors more than anything.

I had made arrangements for my mother-in-law to pick M up and bring her to our house and she arrived around 1:30 p.m. As she watched me having contractions, she felt my stomach and said the contractions were lasting longer than the 30-45 seconds that I thought they were. I had only been timing the painful part, but my stomach was staying hard longer, making them around a minute long. That was encouraging! Now I felt like we were really getting somewhere. By 2:00, I was having back-to-back contractions that were increasingly painful, so M checked me and I was about 3.5 cm dilated and we decided to head to the hospital. My goal was to labor at home longer than I did with Natalie and avoid getting to the hospital so early that they send me home. No woman wants to make a 45-minute car ride to the hospital more than once! We grabbed a plastic tablecloth and some towels, all our bags, and the infant car seat and headed out. Thankfully, I didn't have as many contractions in the car, so the ride wasn't as awful as I thought it might be. We did have to make a pit-stop at a Dollar General on the way because I kept having to empty my bladder. I just didn't want to have any contractions in front of random strangers because, well, that would be awkward!

When we arrived at the hospital, the L&D wing did not have a clean room for me, so I went to triage for monitoring while they prepared a room. Apparently the full moon had sent a lot of women into labor over the past couple of days and the hospital had been really busy! The monitoring confirmed that I was having strong, regular contractions, but the baby's heart rate was on the fast side, indicating that I needed to breathe more during contractions to ensure she was getting enough oxygen. I was dilated to 4 cm.  We got to a room and I decided to get in the tub again to help manage the pain. When that was no longer helping, I decided to give the shower a try. The hospital has awesome two-person showers with 3 shower heads on each side so that water hits you all over and feels really good when you're in labor. Unfortunately, the water temperature wasn't very warm for very long, and I ended up getting out to warm up and try something else.

M applied counter pressure to my hips while I leaned on Alex during contractions. My dad came by after he got off work around 6 pm and brought me Greek yogurt since I hadn't packed enough food to eat during labor and was hungry and needing energy. Several hours had passed since we'd arrived at the hospital and I was curious to know how much progress I had made, so we asked the nurse to check me. I was at 4.5 cm, just half a centimeter more than I had been 3 hours earlier. I was devastated. I began to cry and laid down on the bed and let it all out. My dad tried to encourage me and then decided to head home and I talked things over with M. We concluded that I had been tensing up my lower body during contractions instead of staying relaxed, which was keeping the contractions from being able to do their job, so I needed to try to stay loose in my hips and legs. After our chat, I got up to go to the bathroom for what seemed like the millionth time and I felt a pop and announced that I thought my water had broken. Sure enough, it had! It was 7:12 pm. This was a new experience for me since I had asked my doctor to break my water with Natalie and made it to 9 cm before he broke it. After my water broke, the nurse had to check me to make sure the baby's umbilical cord was not in the way and that the fluid was clear. I was dilated to 5 cm.

I sat on a birthing ball with M behind me providing that blessed counter pressure for the back labor and Alex in front for me to hold on to. I let my legs rest out in front of me with just my heels on the floor in an effort to keep my lower body relaxed. Sometimes, reclining at the waist and leaning into Alex that way felt better during contractions. It hurt so very badly! Having contractions in my belly was a new experience that I never had with Natalie, and there was nothing that helped take the edge off the pain. Strangely, pain medication was not tempting this time around like it had been with Natalie's labor. Maybe it was because I knew what my options were this time and I didn't want to be groggy from Stadol and didn't want a needle in my spine.

I went back to the bathroom, but felt the urge to push during the next contraction. M said that could be a good sign, indicating that I was "complete", but we would need the nurse to check me to make sure. She and the nurse, Misty, told me not to push, just in case I wasn't fully dilated yet because I could tear my cervix. I was dilated to 8 cm, I think. So, I had made quite a bit of progress since my water had broken and I'd starting staying relaxing my lower body. My doctor came by around 7:45 pm to check on me and said he was going to go eat "lunch", but would be back soon if I needed him. Not too long after he left, I was sitting on the edge of the bed with Alex behind me to lean back on and M sitting in front of me holding my legs, which suddenly felt like lead, too heavy for me to move myself. During one contraction, I'd ask her to keep my legs straight and the next, I'd beg for her to bend them and bring them up like they do when you're pushing. The next thing I know, during a contraction, my uterus takes over and starts pushing for me. I told M that I needed to push, but my body was doing it for me, that I couldn't control it. She got excited and got the nurse, who checked me and confirmed that I was complete! I was ready to push and it was only 8:30 p.m., a little over an hour since my dad had left and my water had broken!

It was all so surreal since I was more alert this time than I was with Natalie. With her labor, I was so exhausted from being awake for 32 hours by the time I started pushing that I was really zoned out. This time, I was tired for sure, but I wasn't falling asleep between contractions, and was more in tune with what was going on. I started out pushing while sitting upright (how I delivered Natalie), but after a while, I felt like I needed to change positions. Someone suggested I get on my hands and knees, so the nurses and M helped move me, but a contraction started halfway through, so I ended up pushing while lying on my side. After the contraction passed, they finished moving me to my hands and knees. I wrapped my arms around Alex's neck to help hold myself up. The doctor had given me two shots of numbing medicine just before I started pushing, and my legs and feet felt tingly like they were asleep. Pushing her out was soooo hard. It hurt like crazy despite the numbing medicine. I screamed for them to just get her out and finally, after 50 minutes of pushing, she was born.  It was 9:25 p.m.

I couldn't see her since I was on my knees still, but they told me she was blue and not breathing because her shoulders had gotten stuck for 2 minutes and that had essentially squished her lungs on the way out. They took her to the warming table and pumped air into her lungs. I kept thinking, "Breathe, Julia! Breathe!" Finally, she cried! What a wonderful noise! Her forehead down to her cheekbones was bruised and her eyes had broken blood vessels from the tight squeeze, but she was perfectly beautiful. After she started pinking up, the nurses laid her on my chest and covered her with a warm blanket to help bring her temperature up. Alex and I discussed what to name her, and I told him that I had been thinking of her as Julia as soon as she was on the warming table. The longer we held her and got to know her, the more we agreed that she was our Julia Kate.

After an hour or so of skin-to-skin time and bonding, the nurses took Julia to be weighed and measured. She weighed 8.0 lbs and was 19.25 inches long. The nurse told me that I wasn't allowed to ever have a bigger baby because of how Julia's shoulders got stuck in my small pelvis and how Natalie needed to be delivered using suction. I had semi-jokingly told Alex during labor that IF we decided to have more kids, we were adopting. Labor was so painful! I couldn't imagine going through it again, even if I chose to get an epidural next time. And after going through natural childbirth twice, I can't really imagine not going natural again because I still feel like it's the best choice for me and our babies. (Now that two weeks have gone by, I think I could do it all again if we do decide to have another baby someday, but I'm in NO hurry!) I had discussed the possibility of going home as soon as possible with my doctor, and he agreed that as long as I was feeling up to it, he would discharge us when we were ready. We arrived home when Julia was exactly 24 hours old. My parents and brother brought Natalie back home to meet us, and Natalie was bouncing off the walls, despite the fact that it was an hour past her bedtime. She held Julia for a second and then had had enough of that. It became clear that she was more than ready for bed, but thankfully, after a good night's sleep, she was happy to see her baby sister again in the morning.

We're adjusting about as well as can be expected. Julia started out as a great sleeper, but has been waking up more frequently during her second week of life. Natalie still climbs in bed with us in the middle of the night every night, which doesn't help with our sleep deprivation. Alex was on vacation last week and worked from home this week. Natalie still seems to be enjoying her sister with very few issues with sibling rivalry. I'm hopeful that she'll learn to be gentle in time. I'm so thankful for friends bringing us meals and not having to worry about planning and prepping dinner. Julia is nursing like a champ and gained a whopping 14 ounces in her first week! One of my close friends took newborn pictures for us, so I can't wait to share those when they're ready! My hormones haven't been nearly as crazy this time as they were with Natalie, so I can say that the transition from one kid to two has been much easier than becoming a parent for the first time, but it is definitely a challenge trying to juggle the kids, housework, sleep deprivation, and self-care. I ventured out of the house by myself with both girls yesterday and well, I am in NO hurry to do that again any time soon! Mercy! It is just exhausting to drag the kids, winter coats, the car seat, and the diaper bag in and out of the car. And add to that a baby who wants to eat every hour and a half to two hours so you end up feeding her in the dressing room at Walmart and you get a shopping trip that lasts much longer than you want it to! So there you have it! Congratulations if you managed to hang in there til the end!

Birthdays, Christmas Parades and More Milestones

My mom's birthday was Friday, but due to my dad's work schedule, we celebrated on Saturday. Natalie and I brought a gift over on Thursday when I came to pick up cake pans (I probably should have asked for some for Christmas, now that I think about it!) and I baked the cake on Friday. Thanks to this Pinterest pin, I made crowd-pleasing cake for both my mother-in-law's birthday in October and my mom's birthday. I used only the recipe for the cheesecake and chocolate butter cream frosting and used this Taste of Home recipe for doctoring up a box cake mix. The whole from-scratch cake thing intimidates me, and starting with a box mix and adding a few extra ingredients worked out well. I hope I can find a similar recipe to doctor up a white or yellow cake for Natalie's birthday.

After we got home, Natalie and Alex took a nap together (a rare occurrence) and then we went to our local Christmas parade. Natalie didn't like all the firetruck sirens (I don't blame her), but we gave her a lollipop (what kind of mother am I!?) and all anxiety subsided. It was so funny to me that she immediately knew what to do with it. And then she just chilled out sucking on it until it was all gone. I swear, I was never going to give my kids sugar until I actually became a mom and someone else took over my body!

All the excitement of the day continued after we got home from the parade. My sugar-energized baby decided to take more steps to her daddy and me! She kept walking back and forth between us with this big smile on her face. We cheered and cheered and she just ate it up.

Natalie must have been pretty worn out from the day because SHE FINALLY SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!!! She did wake up an hour earlier than usual in the morning, but I can handle a 7 am wake up call better than a 3 or 4 or 5 am wake up call first. Unfortunately, she woke up at 3 am the next night and was awake for 2 hours! Hopefully she'll decide that sleeping is the better option!

11 months

I think it's safe to say that I'm in denial about my baby turning a year old next month. Just the thought of that makes me want to cry. My sister (whose kids are 7 and 9) said that I should be happy that we will have many more fun months ahead instead of being sad that the first 12 months are over. I know she's right, but I've been so deliberate about cherishing every moment and I just don't want to let the baby stage go yet. Here are a few highlights from Natalie's 11th month:

-First costume party (10/23)

-Natalie took a few steps using her push toy (10/25). Now she can take off behind that thing!

-Waves bye-bye more consistently
-started wearing size 4 shoes (and is already outgrowing them! Gee whiz, kid!) and wears more 18 mo clothes
-Said "Layla" (she loves her doggie!)
-Takes only 1 nap a day instead of 2 most days
-Ate french toast, fried chicken, refried beans, fish, coleslaw, turkey
-Loves to pull tissues out of the box, so I put scrap fabric in an empty wipes container and kept her busy for a good long time. Now she shows no interest in it whatsoever...

-Gets into dog food, crawls further away from us into other rooms, so we're constantly on our toes!

-First tooth finally popped through on 11/4! I'm so thankful that teething has not been difficult for Natalie. Other than her drooling for the 2 weeks prior, she has not been fussy or had difficulty sleeping with that first tooth. Alex just happened to stick his finger in her mouth and felt the tip of the tooth poking through her gums, otherwise we wouldn't have even realized it had happened! She did bite my finger very hard a few hours before we made "the discovery"...that should have been a big clue!
-Second tooth popped through the gums on 11/13. This one caused more fussiness and a nearly-sleepless night (she woke up at 11 and stayed up til 1, then woke up at 5:20 and 6:30).
-Took first steps on 11/14!!! My mom came over spur-of-the-moment, so we decided to let Natalie stay up a few extra minutes to see Grandma and, low and behold, she took 3 or 4 steps towards Grandma, twice! She'd been playing with Alex on the floor and he told me to look quickly because she was standing on her own for an extended period of time. Them my mom arrived and Natalie raised her arms up in the air and said a "word" that started with the "g" sound, so it was like she was saying "Grandma". So cute. Then mom sat on the couch with her arms outstretched and the magic happened and baby girl was on the move!
-First sickness/fever 11/18-11/20. She was so pitiful after waking up with a fever. We sat on the couch and cuddled all day and she took 4 naps! Then the next day she seemed more like her normal self until early afternoon when the fever struck again. A day after her fever broke, she broke out in a rash on her trunk and face (roseola) which lasted two days, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it.
-Started weaning, so now she nurses between 3 and 5 am, at breakfast (around 9 am), and at bedtime.

This child has the biggest smile and the sweetest personality. One minute she is giggling while petting and hugging the dog and the next she is dancing to music and smiling a huge grin from behind her paci. I can't get enough of her! She loves her daddy and immediately reaches for him when he wakes up in the morning and when he gets home from work. I'm so thankful for the bond that they share. She was in her high chair eating her dinner when Alex walked in from work the other night and he went in another room to put his laptop away and she started crying and would not take another bite of food until he came back to get her. So sweet. They usually have lots of tickle and play time in the living room while I finish cooking dinner. That's the best "music" to listen to while you're working around the house!

Another cute story (because who can resist those!?): Alex and I were scooping out some ice cream for ourselves after dinner, so he sat Natalie on the counter right there next to the ice cream. She grabbed the lid and held it up to her mouth and licked the ice cream off! Girl knows where the good stuff is!

I think we have some attitude issues to deal with, but I feel lost dealing with an 11 month old. Any suggestions are welcome! She just screeches or screams when she doesn't get her way (usually when she's tired or in the middle of the night, but sometimes during the day when she's wide awake and just being rotten). I've been giving in to her during the night because I want to get sleep myself and with her being sick, I wanted her to get as much milk from me as possible to boost her immune system. Part of me wants to cut her off at night and make her go 12 hours without nursing because 1) I know she can last that long because she has done it when she's slept with us and I'm right next to her. I know she's just using me as a pacifier when she sleeps in her room and wakes up at 3 or 4 or 5 am wanting to nurse,  2) I'm just ready to get a night of uninterrupted sleep and 3) I want to wean her shortly after her birthday, but it seems like at this point she's never going to give up that early morning feeding and it's easier to just feed her and be awake for 15 minutes than let her cry forever! The child will cry for 2 hours. This mama's heart can't take crying for 2 hours.The last thing I want to do is give in her every demand and teach her that this behavior is ok!

Well, I think that's enough of a summary of the past month of our lives! Alex and I are still in awe of God's blessings to us. We thoroughly enjoy having Natalie in our lives and want to drink in every bit of her sweetness. Every day brings new learning experiences for all of us. There's never a dull moment!

Blessings from the Lord, Not Obstacles to Living the American Dream

I just read this great blog post at Passionate Homemaking. If you read it, it pretty much sums up how I feel about having a family. In short, I'll have as many kids as I want and not have the attitude that they are somehow hindering my pursuit of the American Dream of having a big fancy house, money, new car, money, career, money, designer clothes, money, you get my drift. My American Dream is to raise a houseful of kids that grow up to love and serve the Lord, to grow closer to my husband every day instead of growing apart and getting divorced after 25 years of marriage when the kids are out of the house, to be content with my used car, hand-me-down clothes, and clearance rack everything else, and most importantly to live my life with purpose, fulfilling the plans that God has for me instead of pursuing ME and the things that I want.

Two people at work have literally said, "You can't afford to have more than two kids". My flesh wants to be hateful and respond with some snappy remarks about priorities and such, but that's probably not the best way to handle the situation. But that's the attitude of society today. They say that kids are too expensive, they are too time-consuming, they are exhausting, they are too demanding. "What if I can't afford to buy them all new clothes for school? I want my kids to have everything their hearts desire." So we're just going to teach them to be materialistic and that life will hand them everything they want exactly when they want it? Reality check! Life doesn't work that way. Sure, it's nice to be able to buy things that you want and there's nothing wrong with that, but there's also more to life than THINGS. And sure, I imagine that kids are expensive, time-consuming, exhausting and demanding at times, but they are also a BLESSING. They are our future, our heritage, they capture our hearts from the instant that little stick shows two lines.

I choose to have the attitude that I'm going to enjoy motherhood and not let it pass by before I realize that I've taken it for granted. Our journey to parenthood seemed like it took forever, although I realize now that we are so fortunate. I want to live my life with purpose and to take pleasure in the small things. I want our home to be peaceful, a place of refuge, of hope, of love and laughter, of growth, exploration, unity. I'm so excited about the plans that God has for our family, even though I don't know details yet. I'm just standing on His word that His plans are good and His ways are higher than mine. No American Dream can compare to that.