#4, dog, neighbors, bike, & a great book

Go ahead, count them.

There's FOUR of them.  I was struck by this sight the other day as I fed the kids lunch. Yes, it was frozen pizza, don't judge me. And I know you're not supposed to put blankets by babies. Whatever, he likes the blanket by his face. So there.  I can't believe all four of them are mine. 

Then the other day my awesome (NOT!) dog got ahold of Andrew's pacifier and destroyed it.  I believe I texted Ben something like..... "I want to kill our dog"  I had TWO total pacifiers (which I refer to as pipes, anybody else?! Ben thinks I'm nuts), and I couldn't find the working one....  Soooo, we had an emergency situation on our hands.  It was almost nap time for EVERYONE, and I didn't want to have Drew freaking out.  I sentenced my dog to his crate rather angrily and told the kids we were going to the store together.

I was pretty crabby about having to run out with everybody (I mean, Drew was maybe 2 weeks at that point) and had to apologize to my kids once we got to the store about my stinky attitude.  They are quick forgivers, and we all promised to have a wonderful time in the store together (my attitude was rubbing off on them).  I wish I had a picture of us entering the store because I felt like a mother duck.  I held Drew's carseat in one hand and Caleb's hand in the other.  Caleb held Anna's hand who held Grace's hand, and somehow we ended up single file as we crossed the parking lot. HAHAHAHA.

Anyway, once the kids were all loaded up in the cart, I started laughing.  The circus came to Jewel!! That's what it felt like anyway.  They all did great, I must say, and we were able to get in and out fairly quickly with our much needed pacifiers.  Oh, and ice cream... (it was on sale of course).

I went garage saling last weekend because I'm still needing a few things for Andrew for this winter, and I find driving less overwhelming than being home with everyone ;) Anyway, I found this sweet tent.  Well, it was really fun for a while, but then everyone kept getting hurt and it seemed like all the kids turned into wild maniacs.  So, I threw it downstairs, and THAT'S where they can play with it.  I can't handle the chaos in my main living area. I just can't.

Remember how I wanted to kill our dog?  Well, when I feel that way, sometimes I look at pictures of him being really sweet to get over it. 

Anna went in for a kiss here.  She's perfectly content to let Kedzie slobber all over her face. (EEWWWW! I COULD NEVER BE LIKE THAT)

And here's Grace smothering him.  He is such a good sport.  A few minutes later she tried standing on him to jump onto the couch.... so I had to put the kibosh on that.

My kids have been playing with the neighborhood kids EVERY day.  They all love it and have a blast together.  Notice Anna Sue out there?  She was having the time of her life with the big kids. 

I made a planner for myself in a binder with free printables off the internet to try and stay a bit more organized since I forget nearly everything.  Anyway, when I first started filling out my August sheet, I decided this would be a worthy focus.  So far, so good.  

The kids have REALLY taken well to the new baby.  They are eager to help with him and no one seems to have a jealous problem.  I'm so thankful for that. I love this picture of Grace and Caleb.  Grace has been awesome lately.  She's really dominating as a big sister and being a great little helper for me.  

Here's little man. I CANNOT get enough of him. 

Especially the open mouth sleep.  It's the sweetest thing ever. 

So in the last few weeks Caleb has started READING.  Like, he can straight up read.  I would love to take credit for how hard I've worked with him to reach such an accomplishment, but I can't. I did nothing.  He also started riding a two wheeler.  THIS I take full credit for.  Want to know why?! I turned his bike into a balance bike by taking the pedals off (unfortunately we somehow managed to lose the pedals and still can't find them....).  I had him ride that for a while to learn balance, and BOOM, one day he could just do it!  I didn't have to break my back holding on to the bike running down the sidewalk!  I know, he's kind of old to just be learning-- but we were lazy and he was uninterested.

I just bought Grace a bike at a garage sale.  See below.

It was $2. (!!!!!!!!!!!!)  I was so happy when I found it because it's the PERFECT size.  It looks a little junky up close, but hey, we're not picky!  I was hoping to take the pedals off this bike and have Grace riding around on a two wheeler in no time, but since she's having such fun pedaling, I thought I'd wait.  

I found THIS website and love her character charts!  I was motivated to look for that because I started reading "Shepherding a Child's Heart" again and have been extremely convicted.  Ouch.  If you haven't read it, it's mind blowing.  I've read it before and still my mind is being blown.  Parenting is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy harder than I thought it'd be.  What I need to do is become like Susanna Wesley and pray over an hour a day for my kids with an apron on my head. Amen?!?!

That's all I've got for now!

-Melanie 

  

Andrew's Birth Story

This whole pregnancy I was less anxious than I was with Anna.  And I think it's mostly because I made it to the hospital with Anna, so I had more confidence in my ability to know when it was time to get there.  This pregnancy I had toooooonnnnnnnnssss of braxton hicks again.  It's just the way my body works I guess.  I think I started having them around 28 weeks this time.  And, towards the end, they get painful and make me crabby.  It's not that they hurt THAT bad, it's that they hurt AND they aren't doing anything.  Well, I suppose at one point they are, but for all those weeks they aren't.  Anyway, enough whining.

Monday, August 1, I went to a check up (39 week checkup).  When my midwife measured me, I measured small, which is normal for me, but then she looked back and noticed that I hadn't grown in 3 weeks and that made her a bit concerned.  SO, up I went to labor and delivery for a non stress test and bio physical profile (ultrasound).  I passed the test, but the ultrasound looked a LITTLE weird.  I guess some things were measuring small and we were debating what to do next.  My midwife said I could come in the next day for her to strip my membrane to try and move things along in case something was wrong, so I made an appointment for the next day.  

Monday evening (Aug 1), Ben needed to head into Lansing, and I said I would go with because I wanted to take care of a few things in our church nursery.  I was having some more frequent contractions and started wondering if I was maybe in labor.  I was distracted by that and totally forgot the whole reason I was heading to Lansing, so I accomplished nothing.  THAT was annoying.  Anyway I went to Aldi instead with Caleb and Anna. While I was holding Anna and a heavy grocery bag in the parking lot, I had another stronger contraction.  That was not a nice moment, and I started freaking out.

On the way home from Lansing, I told Ben I was going to text my mom and dad and tell them I thought I might be in labor and that they should be ready to come.  About 4 minutes later I said, "Ok, start heading to my house". Since I tend to have fast labors, I was getting really anxious that I was running out of time!! Ben tried talking to me in the car, but as I've learned the last few times, I do NOT like talking when I'm trying to determine if I'm in labor.  I prefer complete silence while I freak out.  

We got home and Ben put the kids to bed (in record speed) while I finished packing my hospital bag. My parents came, and Ben and I headed to the hospital. (It was about 7:30) I got there and of course, my contractions slowed waaaaaay down.....  SO then I felt like a total idiot for coming in.  But, when my midwife came and checked me, I was 6 cm!  It was a HUUUUUUGE relief!  Just like with Anna, I threw my hands up in victory. I DID IT! 

I sat on the bed for a while and really was having just a few contractions here and there.  It was just like I'm used to at home on a daily basis with my braxton hicks.... SO, I didn't really know what to do in the hospital. I went in the tub for a few minutes, but it was kind of boring.  Then I took a walk with Ben.... then I sat on an exercise ball in my beautiful gown.  The Cubs game was on, so that was nice for Ben, but after a while he went to sleep.  (don't panic, it's ok with me ;))

 I took another walk, laid on the bed.... and just wondered why in the world it was taking so long and when would things start progressing!?! (After an hour I was 7 cm but then stayed at a 7 for the next couple of hours).  After my midwife checked me and I was still a 7 (at about 11:40p.m. or so), she decided to break my water.  I fought her a little on it because I was worried that breaking my water would just make my very bearable contractions more intense, and then I would be miserable for however many hours.  She basically said, no, let's do it, and broke it.  That was a weird feeling.  THEN after a few minutes things reeeeaaaaallly started picking up.  I went in the tub, which I really like for stronger contractions.

Soon I knew it was getting serious and the baby would be here in no time, so I had Ben pull the string to alert everyone I needed help, and they came rushing in.  I DESPERATELY wanted to stay in the tub, but silly St. Anthony's won't let you have a baby in the water anymore (Boooooooo!!!!), so I had to move to the bed.  And really, when you're in intense pain, you do NOT feel like getting up and moving.  I think I even said "I don't think I can move." Anyway, the end for me seems like an eternity, but apparently I only pushed twice and out popped a baby boy. During the horrible part (the ending), I was frantically grabbing for a piece of gauze I had put some clary sage essential oil on.  I was basically inhaling that while driving my head into a pillow.  Ben is still making fun of me for that. ;) My midwife called to Ben and asked if he'd like to catch the baby, so he did.  Ben says it definitely wasn't as cool as catching Grace, but I think he preferred this way.  I had the baby 34 minutes after she broke my water.  In hindsight, breaking my water was brilliant, and I probably should have done it a couple hours earlier to move things along.  But, how do you know?! You just don't.  Well I s'pose I do now.

Those first few moments after you have a baby are so amazing aren't they?! For me it's a HUGE feeling of relief "I'm so glad it's OVER" and also, "I can't believe this child is MINE."  I got to hold baby boy for THREE hours before they took him from me (even to weigh him!).  He basically nursed the entire time. ( Little did I know that was a foretaste of how he would eat.  Slow. Reeeeaaaaally slow. ) I'm calling him baby boy because we had no name for him.  Ben loved doing it this way, but I felt weird not knowing who I was holding.  Ben went home about 2:30 (I had the baby at 12:18am) to try and get some sleep, and I sat awake most of the night because I'm pretty wired after I have a baby.  Plus when the nurses need to take your blood pressure every 5 minutes, it's hard to get sleep.  And for the record, those automatic blood pressure things are terrible! OUCH.  If you move they just keep squeezing and squeezing your arm.  AND when you're trying to nurse your 3 minute old baby and they need help re-latching, you kind of have to move.  Amen? 

Anyway, l basically named him while I had him all night, and later in the morning when Ben came back and I took a shower, he named him something else.  So then we had to battle between two names.  It took us until about 4 pm to come to an agreement.  Ben's name got picked (in case you're wondering) because I eventually came around.  And, lest you think he's a big, fat meany, he WAS willing to go with my pick by the end.  We named him Andrew William --Andrew after the disciple and William after my dear ole dad.  Now all four of our kids are named after a grandparent.  Pretty neat eh? 

He's the sweetest ever, is nicknamed Drewbie Doo, and today he's TWO weeks old.  We are so incredibly blessed.
-Melanie