Last Christmas..

Luke bought me a Worst Case Scenarios Calender..it has a different situation for each day. Luke and I bawled laughing at the one for today, and I thought I'd share. :)

Thursday, Dec. 31st
How to Survive If You Have No One To Kiss On New Year's Eve.

**Kiss a pet.
Dogs are generally agreeable and have clean mouths. Cats are usually well groomed but are more passive and tend to get rather then give. Keep your mouth closed.

**Kiss yourself.
Find a mirror, pucker up, clean close and kiss. Keep your lips slightly parted. Do not attempt to use your tongue. Wipe the mirror after you have completed your kiss. You may also try kissing the back of your hand.

**Hug a pillow.
Full body pillows are more satisfying.

**Call a friend on the phone.
After you wish your friend a Happy New Year, give the telephone mouthpiece loud ,smacking kisses.

I welcome 2010.

Don't get me wrong, there were LOTS of things about 2009 that were awesome. We saw the birth of our third child, met some awesome friends which can only be God due to how well we all fit together, and seen more of God's faithfulness then I have in a long time. But we also saw lots of hard times...when times looked bleak and when all that was left was Luke and I pouring our hearts out to God for SOMETHING to happen to our circumstances. I have learned so so much this past year. I've learned that I am nothing, absolutely nothing without God...its sad that our livelyhood had to be stripped from me to see my absolute dependence on Him, but its true. Its forced me to grow up more, its made Luke and I's relationship deeper and closer, and its made me take a step back and look at my walk with God...one in which I feel was way way to lax...but I'm taking certain measures to stop being so complasent.

Both Luke and I are looking forward to what God has in store for us this coming year. There is an expectancy for what we feel God is wanting to do, but we're also lost because we have no idea how it will all pan out.

I sought the Lord, and He heard me.
I sought the Lord, and He heard my cry.
I sought the Lord, and He heard me.
I sought the Lord, and He heard my cry.
And He answered me.

Though weeping endures for the night, Your joy comes in the morning.
Though sorrow may last for a time, Your joy comes in the morning.

Faithful, Your always faithful
True, Your always True.
You'll never leave me, Your always with me.
Your Good, Your good.

You bring Joy, You bring Joy, You bring Joy, You bring joy, You bring joy, You bring joy to my soul.

Cory Asbury-Always Faithful.

My last post..

Was not posted on Dec. 24th actually....it was a draft I started and forgot to change the date on it..so it was posted today...Dec. 27th at 11:39pm. :) Just for the record...

Sorry!

Its been so stinkin long since I've posted anything. Just been busy with the holiday season stuff...the last couple days have been nothing but cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, and lots of other things in between. We had our own personal Christmas this morning since it lets us have some intimate family time before heading off to celebrate with more family. The hit toys for Christmas were the Buzz and Woody dolls they got. Gee...if I had known those would be the ones that actually got played with I would have ONLY gotten those..haha..Luke was more then sweet to me and got me a new blender(I LOVE smoothies and mine died a while back and I've been missing it badly.), and also a iHome..so I can plug my ipod in anywhere in the house. I'd been wanting one for a while actually, since we don't have a way to listen to our ipod music except when its plugged in to the the computer and that really is defeating the purpose. :) I was blessed with many more thoughtful gifts(stationary, new Crocs, cookie sheets, calenders(yes, plural) haha, and my sweet hubby re sized my wedding ring so I could wear it again)...

We all had fun opening our gifts and then we piled into the car and headed to Nana and PopPop's house(my mom and Dad), enjoyed Christmas morning with them, and had Erin and Wesley come that night to do our gift exchange, next morning we all went to my grandmother's house and had a big lasagna lunch with my Mom's side of the family..it was SO good to see all my cousins and family. I really really love them and we always end up laughing and having a blast...then we headed over to the Parrish Grandparents and hung out with them a little...Ben and Raquel met up with us in Valdosta so outside of my brother Matt we were all together! I love when that happens.

We left today at 2:45 and made it back around 7:45...hitting some traffic along the way. I didn't manage to see any friends this trip down which kind of made me sad..we usually fit in at least one short visit if nothing else but to say hi and give hugs, but it just didn't work out. Luke's family was in Columbus this year as Mr. Dave(Luke's dad) had a job going there over Christmas. We really missed seeing them and it felt very weird not to be able to enjoy their company while we were down south. I'm happy to be home though....nothing like your own stuff. Plus Kate gave us a hard time sleeping down there and I'm ready to get her back on a more normal schedule with her own bed and familiar enviroment.

I've managed to contain some of the mess so far, but know the next couple of days I'm in for a good bit of clean up.

I just want to say Thanks!

To all the people who have prayed for my and my little mouth. Yesterday I went and had two molars removed. One I will not miss since its all the way in the back, but the other one is the second from the back and I can tell I'm going to miss that one when it comes to chewing. You thankfully can't see them missing which makes me feel less like a bum and more ok about myself, but I know we'll eventually replace it with an implant once we can drum up 3,500 for it. I was literally scared silly when I went in and was complaining to the dentist that I remembered a lot of me getting my wisdom teeth and how I remember the pulling, crunching of teeth and other horrible things I'd rather not think about(but just let you have a lovely mental picture)..and he assured me I wouldn't remember a thing..so I said ya right and we went about our business. I went in, sat down, they were talking to me about my kids and my birth choices while she was giving me my IV and nasal canula and the next thing I remember is completely being finished(iv taken out and all, with guaze already in my mouth) and being moved to the recovery room where they promptly got Luke and we sat and waited till I was able to walk a few steps before going home. Not one bit of pain so far, only that sore bruised up feeling...I am soo thankful that God allowed this to be such a positive experience after having had soooo many bad ones with dentists.

Today I have been so productive. I know in a prior post I wrote that Luke had ruined his jacked on accident, so we went and got him a new one today and thankfully found one on sale at Kohls, bought several more Christmas gifts, stocking holder for Kate's new stocking, a ginger bread house kit(its tradition ya'll!) and stuff to make chili after we decorate our Christmas tree tomorrow, which I am just so pumped about. We also got Noah's hair cut since he was about to be rocking a mullet and it was hanging over his ears. He just looks so stinkin adorable when he's got his little boy come over do.

I love getting our tree, but since we get a real one we try and wait till closer to Christmas so it doesn't die on us too early. haha..

May I just say how much I'm enjoying watching IHOP online? Luke and I have been getting our fill of Jesus every night watching the outpouring of the Spirit there. Its free right now for anyone interested in watching it themselves.
http://www.ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=1000060205

My hubby has been soo good to me...he always is, but he's been especially so recently. Keeping wood around so I can enjoy our fireplace, doing dishes without being asked, dealing with the kids almost every morning so I can sleep in, making me meals, and running errends I don't want to, plus lots of other things that would take too long to mention. He's such a great husband who works so hard for us and I love him more and more every single day.

Anyways, my pain meds are VERY much working right now so I appologize if there are lots of typos or stuff like that cause I'm pretty woozy from this stuff..haha...so I'm off to enjoy an evening with my family. :)

Feel free God...

I know God's timing isn't our own, but gee whiz, sometimes it feels way to slow for me. I had the suckiest dentist visit today that I've ever had. Not only did I come home in pain still, I was told in more words then this that I basically needed a new mouth outside of my front teeth which are thankfully all still wonderfully intact.

So....our prayer, is for God to completely do a rehaul on my mouth and completely heal and restore it..He's capable and already paid the price on the cross....or we need the money for all the work to be done. I'm believing for the former, but at this point I'm just so over it and want it fixed and to be done.

Jesus, have your way, and have mercy on me.

Sometimes life sucks..

Its true and everyone knows it. Given in comparison to lots of other peoples lives mine is easy peasy, but to me its all big deals. Yesterday I woke up and got a phone call about how Kate insurance was no longer considered active anymore according to her pediatrician whom she was supposed to see today, had to cancel her appointment till I can get a hold of someone at the DFCS office and find out why in the world her insurance isn't active anymore...ugh...then Luke called and told me that he accidentilly sucked his big nice ONLY winter coat up into a table saw yesterday and ruined both his jacket and breaking the saw...so now he's without a winter jacket and we had to replace the saw with money we don't have...To top things off, my mouth started bothering me about a week ago, I didn't think much of it cause it bothers me off and on but its gotten worse and worse and now I'm taking pain meds every 3-4 hours and thats just taking the edge off, not making the pain actually go away. So I have to go in a see a dentist tomorrow and pray its nothing to serious. Please pray God has His way with my mouth and its something easily fixed. Plus, I am a serious bundle of nerves when I go to the dentist and the idea of going is making me feel sick to my stomach....not to mention I'm having to leave the house by like 6:50 to be there in time...and this is the most unGodly time ever in my book. I am NOT a morning person....I just want them to find out what's wrong and be able to fix it then so I don't have to come back later or wait for resolution...its not easy leaving a breastfeeding baby for a long period of time, much less more then one visit.

I'm thankful that despite the pain today, Luke and I are going on a date. He has agreed to go to New Moon with me even though I've seen it already and we're going to Panera for dinner...I LOVE it and he's not super keen on it, so this date is all about him allowing me a more Kayla friendly night....which isn't to say that I'm always doing what he wants on dates cause we usually agree on the place to eat, but we typically go and see more action/man friendly movies and so I'm just excited he's making the effort to appreciate something I enjoy. :)

Today..

Luke and I went to the Farmer's market today, and totally should have thought better of going 2 days before Thanksgiving. It was a mad house! Then Luke DESPERATELY needed new shoes, so we stopped at Rackroom and he picked up a pair(on sale!), then ate CiCi's pizza. Its so freakishly cheap here it almost makes me nervous to eat it..haha..then Luke graciously allowed me to stop in at Target and pick up 2 more long sleeved shirts. Its getting cold here and I only had 2 that fit, so it was time. :) We came home and played some Rock Band 2...didn't realize we still had tons of progress to make on the game. I meanwhile have been doing laundry all day so we'd have clothes to pack for our 5 day trip to T'ville. Tonight we watched Biggest Loser after eating scrumpcious stir-fry and tofu over rice, I made Muddy Buddy mix and Luke and I settled in to fold the 5 loads of laundry that needed to be folded. Luke brought down all the suitcases, so I put everything in them while folding..only thing left now is last minute stuff like toiletries. This trip will be interesting cause its the first time we've ever stayed with Luke's family...not interesting in a bad way by any means, but just different.

Erin and I had a blast at the movies. It was so funny to sit in with the more Twihards...I mean I like the books and the movies, but I'm not drooling/screaming/wearing t-shirts in support type of a fan...and I can't even count the times we heard screams during the movie. It was seriously comical and pretty annoying all at the same time. But I had fun none the less...I don't get out alone often especially with Erin, so I counted it a real treat to have some time to ourselves. I'm also getting a NIECE! I am soo beyond excited about getting a niece...with 3 nephews its about time. I can't be the only girl supplier around here..haha...She will be loved soo much and it will be nice to see all of Kate's clothes getting some use again.

I also really really enjoyed having my mom up here this past week. We don't get nearly enough time with her and so it means everything when we get to be together. I'm so glad you came Mom. I'm glad we'll see you some this week and that Christmas isn't far away! :)

We won't be able to do our normal home church meeting this week, and that makes me sad. We have really come to love our get togethers....Kelly, know we'll be missing you and Ty!

Off to put the last load in the dryer and get ready to watch a little Conan...he's my fave!

Exciting week..

My Dad came up yesterday for some more work, my mom is coming tomorrow, which is also when we do our homechurch, Erin's ultrasound to find out what she's having is Thursday, Erin and I go to see New Moon on Friday, its Erin's birthday on Sat, and Luke and I were thinking dinner out on Sunday at where my Aunt is the chef...So much is going on and I'm so excited about all of it.

I've been trying to focus on not just walking on the treadmill recently, but also upper body stuff too..I didn't realize how weak and pathetic my upper body was..haha..but I can visibily see a difference in my arms now..I've got noticable muscle now..yay! The mile around the park seems soo soo much easier now that I've been walking more then that daily...However I'm thinking I need some new shoes or something cause I noticed when I walk/run that my feet feel like I have bruises on them for days..and that doesn't make me want to do it again..ugh. So we'll see..I may just have to go with it for right now, shoes are on the low end of the need spectrum. :)

I just realized the other day that Pandora had a ipod App and I have been really enjoying it. Since we have wireless here in the house its been nice to just use that and get some new music to listen to then what I've heard lots of times.

Olivia..

I entered Olivia into one of those silly little child model contests..haha..this is what happens when I get bored. :)

So if you want to vote for her, click here!

http://modelsearch.parenting.com/contests/showentry/95018

Well..

Thats as good as it gets right now. I gotta figure out how to get rid of the middle template and just have the layout...ugh. I don't remember it being this hard. haha..

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been quite busy and just haven't had the alone time and brain capacity to do it. All spare time has been spent reading, working out, watching movies with the fam, and going places...What's spare time again?? :)

If your popping in right now

I'm sorry..I'm trying to figure out how to change my layout...it wasn't this hard, but I somehow clicked something that made it where I couldn't get back to a editing page and now only the layout is showing up, and none of my actual postings...weird.

Hang in there..:)

Fun weekend..

We had a fun weekend..We just had mostly a chill day on Sat...and went grocery shopping. We needed so much...I'm still trying to get a feel for how to use WIC, but I'm thinking I'm getting it..Publix also had some great BOGO's this week...I always make use of the weeks they have pasta or pasta sauces BOGO cause I KNOW I'll use those and it helps to stock up on them for times when I don't have as much money to use on groceries.

Yesterday we got up and got ready and decided to go to IKEA. Ended up getting lots of children eating ware for Luke's mom's house...and a train set for Noah for Christmas(Luke's going to hopefully build him a little table for his room to put them on), and some stacking cups for Kate. We ran an errand to a friends house to drop some stuff off and then on to Tyler and Kelly's house to go to the park right by them, we had a lot of fun. The kids were pooped, so we ate dinner and put the kids down for bed a little earlier then normal...which allowed us to watch a movie without it being too late when it was over! Yay..I love when it works out that way.

Luke has taken on a salesmen type role with a company here that does exterior finishing type stuff(you know, siding, window, roofing). He's only making commission so we haven't seen really any fruits, but its of no loss to us right now cause he's not doing it 8 hrs a day or anything. This allows him to work and do the side construction stuff he's been doing but with the option of finding sales through the company. It could be a good thing, but since its not an official "job", it hasn't felt like he's gotten a job or anything. We'll just have to wait and see where God leads this...Pray for favor though either way..:)

Today is..

Cleaning and purging day. I'm so tired of all the extra things we have around the house. So I'm trying my best to go through all of the clothes right now, mostly the kids. Noah's got a ton of things he's outgrown that I need to find homes for, bigger clothes that we've been given need to be organized and put somewhere, and all the things Kate's outgrown need to be put up to save for Erin in case she happens to have a girl. I'm also going to go through and organize pots, pans, glass wear, and tupperwear stuff and get rid of some of them. I have way way too much glass wear and I'm sure someone else could benefit from them more then I can just having them there to look at. :)

Planning on going to IKEA this week. Going to pick up some eating ware to take with us to the Fletcher's for Thanksgiving, and possibly a couple Christmas gifts for the kids. I love how wonderfully cheap their stuff is, but its so well made! I'm also thankful that Kate's young enough this year, she won't require really anything at all, so she'll only get a couple gifts..and most will be practical ones. haha

We were able to find Noah a new carseat on Craigslist a couple weeks ago, he still fits into his Britax Roundabout, but Kate's only a couple pounds away from needing it, so we bought the size up and got him the Marathon which is what Olivia has too...he's excited to have a new "big boy" seat(even though it really only has a taller back, it looks almost the same.)..and it will be nice to have the Roundabout for Kate now.

100th!

This is officially my 100th post...feels good. :) I occasionally go back and look at my prior posts and its amazing how far I've come over the time I've been blogging here..My 100th post is going to be about breastfeeding..just a warning in case no one wants to be surprised by it as they read. Its also long...just warning.

Right after I had Olivia I was of the mindset that I would nurse her..my milk took forever to come in..like over 5 days..it was frustrating to hold a crying baby and feel like I wasn't feeding her enough. I'm thankful my mom was around to help and encourage..finally it came in and things were fine. I'd say like less then a week later I noticed I had a lump in my breast..called my midwife and she had a look at it...we concluded it was a clogged duct and helped me figure out how to get it out..2days later I could barely sleep cause I was running fever and in a lot of pain. She refered me to a surgeon who diagnosed me with whats called a Galactocele. A cyst that kept getting filled up with milk and had no outlet, creating a breeding ground for infection. After going in every 3-4 days to have it aspirated by needle and being on countless rounds of antibiotics(this was several weeks) they decided to put a drain in and surgically attach it to my chest. It was soo annoying. I wasn't allowed to get it wet, so I was sponge bathing and I had this for over a month. Not to mention, its hard to hide that sort of thing under a shirt...:) They finally took it out and said that outside of surgery to remove it there wasn't much more they could do because I was still trying to nurse and even though I was unable to nurse out of that side and I was trying to keep it dry, it still kept filling up. When Olivia was 3 1/2 months old I made the decision to stop breastfeeding. It was a choice made out of frustration and also relief. I was tired of trying, was tired of the pain, wanted something easier, and because of my experience I really really didn't like nursing. I was also sad, because I knew it meant letting go of ME providing nutrition and feeling like I'd failed something very important. While it was a sad choice to make, I know it was the right one. I was a much happier, healthier and better mommy after that.

When I got pregnant with Noah I immediately decided I would try my hardest again. My Dr's were telling me the cyst would come back and would most likely cause problems again. Luke and I decided right then and there we were NOT claiming that. We rebuked the words spoken and cursed the cyst and commanded life over my future nursing relationship. My milk came in the day after I gave birth and came in STRONG! I was overwhelming the poor little guy and he just couldn't keep up..which led me to pumping a lot...which for me started a vicious cycle. I loved Luke being able to feed Noah with all that extra milk, but it also made it where Noah prefered the bottle..and I was left very FULL a lot of the time even with pumping. He was a funny eater and while I was so happy to finally be breastfeeding I still didn't enjoy it very much those first couple of months while we worked out the kinks. We praised God that He was faithful and healed me allowing me to nurse on BOTH sides and not having any more cysts. I am a testimate to the fact that Dr's do not have the final say in healing. :) As the months went by I was so thankful that things got soo easy and I felt too lazy to pump and feed my child and gave up on that unless I had to go somewhere. We made it all the way to 12 months...We probably could have gone longer, but I wasn't as willing to nurse an "older" baby at the time.

My experience with breastfeeding has only got better and better. Kate is a GREAT nurser and has never given me any problems. She acted like she knew what she was doing. When she was 3 weeks old we went to stay with my Dad for 7 weeks while they worked on a project. I didn't bring my pump with me so when she was hungry there were no other choices but for me to feed her. I think it really helped our nursing relationship...she does NOT like bottles or pacifiers which is a new one for me as my other two loved both. But she's a super efficiant nurser who's almost always done in under 10 minutes total. She's plump and sweet and I relish the idea of nursing her for a while. She loves reaching up and playing with my face while she's nursing, or seeing how far she can place her foot up on my arm..and I love when she's so happy she can't even stay latched on due to smiling. Now, don't get me wrong..I know there are moments when it'd be nice to pass off a feeding or not having to worry about who I'm leaving her with cause I know there will be a bottle battle, but its all worth it.

My point is, if at first you don't succeed, try again! It IS worth it, and I don't mean any of this to put down anyone who formula feeds. Since we did it with Olivia I have a lot more mercy about it then I know a lot of breastfeeding moms. I'm just saying if it doesn't work one time, it doesn't mean it won't work again..

Alright..now you now a lot about my nursing life. :) It kind of consumes you while your doing it..haha..

Off to get dinner out of the oven!

I hate it when..

You have a great day and then the following day feels like everything is going wrong. If I were to step back and look at my day, I'm sure I wouldn't feel so emotional and crabby about it, but in the moment I am oh so easily swept up in a mix of pity parties and tantrums. Both mine and the kids! ;)

Today started off weird cause Kate got up a lot earlier then usual even though the other two were still sleeping...but I made it better by accomplishing two errands that needed to be run, and Starbucks was one of those stops, which always always helps make me feel better. But then no one wanted to take a nap till around 3:30, when I gave up and just sent them to their rooms regardless of whether they were sleeping or not. I think Noah went to sleep, but Olivia just stompes around makes tons of loud noise no matter how much I discipline. Then I talked to Luke and he said he got hit today with a board at work and had a nice gash on his nose...which I was less then nice about cause instead of being concerned with his well being I was upset about how my Aunt is coming on Sunday to snap a few photo's of us and that his beat up nose will be in the shot...I'm so immature...Kate's been crying all afternoon, and only 2 1/2 of the loads out of 6 are folded, and my dog just chewed up my ONLY pair of comfortable headphones which I was using for working out everyday...and Dad and Luke are having a super long day out at work today..

Ok, I've ranted..I'm done.

Our date night last night was good though..however, I don't want to see that movie ever again, and I'm not so sure I liked having dinner while watching a movie..kind of takes away from enjoying conversation...we've learned our lesson. :)

I'm hoping tomorrow is better...

I'm trying...

I have officially contacted a photographer to take a few pictures of us at Thanksgiving when I'm down in T'ville. I'm pretty excited we haven't had family pictures taken since way before I was even pregnant with Kate..so we've changed a good bit. :) Which means I have 3ish weeks..and I'm trying to lose just a wee bit of weight before we go down. I know I probably won't lose enough to actually see a difference in the pictures, but at least I will KNOW that I was thinner..haha..and I've decided to push myself..something I don't normally do. As soon as it hurts or its inconvenient or I just don't want to, I give up...the last 3 days I've been super persistant in pushing myself. LOTS of Wii Fit, allowing THEM to pick my routine so that I'm forced to do things I may not have chosen myself, and also walking/running on the treadmill. I started with just walking 1.5 mules and decided that I still felt too good, so yesterday I walked 3 miles and ran a half mile(so 3.5 all together). I was mildly sore today, but nothing bad at all..so today I walked like 2 and ran 1.2 miles(so 3.2)...feeling a little bit more pushed today. I'm also lifting weights..I actually FEEL good despite the workout burn, something that I've never really felt...so thats nice. I decided that watching a movie while working out REALLY helped...while I like LOUD music while running, I get bored silly by just listening to music while walking..

God's shaking up things recently spiritually for us and we are feeling even more driven to a need for deepness...but we are still trying to figure out where that leads us next and what it looks like. Its a frustrating place to be in.

Kate had a Ped. visit yesterday and I let them give her two vaccines. We aren't exactly anti-vaccine, but anti the way they go about giving them so many so fast...she's 5 months as of yesterday so we decided she could have two..they were her firsts ever and she did soo good, seriously didn't blink an eye at the first one and only cried for like 15 seconds with the second...and had acted like her normal self ever since...we are thankful that God's hand has been over her through it all..Thankfully her ear infection is cleared up and her lungs still sounded great, so now we should just be on a regular check up basis now..yay!

Tonight my loving Father and sister are going to watch the kiddos for Luke and I while we go out and have a date without children.. I seriously don't think we have had one since just after Valentines day...its been that long. I'm so excited and can't wait to go...we're going to go to a dinner and a movie place where they serve the dinner while eating. Should be a interesting...I think we decided on Law Abiding Citizen..its a good thing Luke married a girl who likes more masculine movies. :)

Monday, oh Monday..

We had a lot of fun this weekend. Saturday we just lounged around the house and did pretty much nothing. Luke let me sleep in, then brought me breakfast in bed, and then did the dishes and kept an eye out on the kids while I surfed the net for a few. It was so nice and made my day...Sunday we both slept in, not sure what made the kids sleep in/be quiet while up, but I wish they'd do it more often! Ate a late breakfast and then went to AutumnFest in Decatur with Tyler and Kelly and Tyler's parents. Then we decided to hit up Rita's cause everyone kept telling us how good it was, but we'd never been...it WAS yummy...and would highly recommend it. We tried going to the park but we couldn't find parking and decided it would probably be more fun to just head home and eat a early dinner. We had chicken-black bean-corn-and caramalized onion quesadilla's...Oh so good. Then watched Jim Gaffigan..that guy makes me laugh no matter how many times I've heard the jokes. Which then followed by card playing..yay for games!

I'm sad its Monday cause I know Luke has to go back to work, which I'm thankful he's got some right now..so no complaining on that end, but I sure do miss the fella when he's away. Its getting easier to accept that he's gone during the day for work, but I haven't fully gotten back into the swing of having him gone so much just yet..6-7 months of having him around almost all the time makes it hard for him to leave and it feel normal anymore. Can you believe its been 7 months since he's been laid off?! We sure can't, and we are sooo unbelievably thankful God's carried us financially this long without any complications. We believe He'll continue to do so...

Christmas isn't far away and the urge to start shopping for stuff is hitting me. I know this Christmas will be different in the sense of gifts, but part of why I love Christmas so much is an excuse to be able to get something for someone that you know they'll love and want, and it bothers me to think I may not be able to do that fully this year. Luke often tries to remind me that its not about the gifts, and I DO understand that, but its hard to stop doing what you've always done..ya know?

Anyways, I'm off to get ready to go to the library. I owe them like 3.15 for some late books..boo...but I have a book waiting for me and the kids are needing something "new" to read to keep their attentions during the day..haha..

Haven't felt like it..

Like blogging..sometimes I find it theraputic and other times it feels like a chore.

Yesterday we went and applied for WIC. Both of us were hesitant because I thought there was a lot more work involved and didn't think it would really offset our groceries that much, but boy was I was wrong! I mean, I will still have to buy a lot of food, but we are getting SOO much food a month. 12 gallons of milk a month(ok, who freakin drinks this much a month?!), 105 oz of cereal, eggs, bread, fruit and veggies, cheese, beans, peanut butter...the list goes on. I can't even imagine how much this will help out. Kate goes back in 2 months to start getting baby food, she'll be getting like 60-something jars of baby food a month, which is just a crazy amount of help. We feel so thankful and blessed...and my little ones did great at the certification..they had to have their iron tested and they didn't fuss or cry about it at all..However it does make grocery shopping more complicated cause its a lot more thought put into it..haha..

We decided to all go out this week to Macaroni Grill and it ended up being a disaster. For some reason, the food wasn't all that great and the kids ended up being complete CHILDREN all evening. Speaking of, Noah has been throwing the worst tantrums while out in public. Olivia really never did that and if she did she was easy enough to deal with...Noah doesn't give a rip if we do anything, we've bribed, threatened, taken him out and spanked him...and it hasn't effected him..Not sure what to do to help stop him when he does it.

Misc...

Cause I'd have to google how to really spell the whole word. Just being honest. :)

This week has been weird feeling for me...not sure why. Tuesday morning someone wanted to come earlier in the morning to get something I was selling on Craigslist. Always happy to oblige that and she even bought two of the things I had listed, at the price I was asking which is always nice! Then vacuumed, swept, washed 2 loads of laundry. Yesterday I had to take Kate back to the Dr's office for a follow up visit on her chest stuff, they said she sounded a lot better and didn't need to do the x-ray they thought might be needed, so yay! But we found out she had an ear infection, most likely due to all this other stuff she's been dealing with, which explains why she was up ever 2-3 hours for the prior 2 nights..Then we hosted a home group at our house for the evening and had chili, worshiped together and then played a game. Also enjoyed some banana pudding..yummy.

Kate slept soo much better last night, so I'm hoping the meds are helping.

Today my goal is to get Olivia back into the school grove at least for today and tomorrow and we'll try and start up again on Monday. I'm thankful for this year to kind of learn without the pressure of having to formally do school every day. It eases her and me both into it and learning how to schedule it in every day, which is easier said then done with two smaller children.

I love when Olivia randomly takes photos with my camera and produces pictures like this:


She's crazy...and note all the random things around my television. Cloth wipes, glue sticks, deoderant?!, a wet pull up?!, and all the lovely fingerprints on my tv....ah, the life of a family of 5.

Here's a picture of three of the fellas from last night. They were all being silly so getting a decent shot was crazy, but this one was pretty good. :)

And I'm back! -(Said in a SNL skit voice)

I had a great but tiring weekend! Friday I left my house around 10:00 and picked up a friend on the way down to T'ville, made it around 4:00 and then all my friends met up at 5:30, we all drove down to Tally and enjoyed dinner at Carrabas...my dinner happened to include a Miami vice..oh so yummy. Then we went to Starbucks and enjoyed some coffee...came back and just hung out and talked at my mom's house. It was a good time and I look forward to doing it again sometime soon.

Sat I had a slow start to the day, but just after lunch I went and hung out with Alison and Liam for a little bit, I hadn't gotten to meet my newest nephew yet and I enjoyed getting to hold the little sweetie. Then I went shirt shopping, then to a bridal shower, and then to my grandma's for a fish fry..it was a super long day and poor Kate never really got nap so she was one super cranky baby...thankfully she slept well that night.

Sunday my friend and I left after I had a nice lunch with my parents and sister & bro in law. Made good time on the way back and Kate slept almost the entire way, so no real stops for me to have to feed or anything...I was so happy to be back with my honey and my other children. There is something about going away that makes you so much more appreciative of what you left behind.

Today is rainy and ick and this type of weather makes me oh so sleepy...seems like a good day for a book, but I guess a magazine will suffice...not to mention the mail doesn't run today and I LOVE getting mail. So boo for a non mail running day.

Mental health weekend..:)

So this weekend I will be making the drive down with a friend of mine and our two little ladies to T'ville to enjoy a mental health weekend. Even though I have met some awesome awesome friends up here, I still really miss my friends from down south and I've been in DESPERATE need of just a girl outing..nothing fancy, but dinner and and just time to talk. So all of us old school friends are going to hang out...I've known Patti since she was two and we've been through thick and thin and I'm glad she still loves me through all of it, and of course Alison is my sister in law and I'm soo glad I got a friend as a sister in law. It made it so easy to be family when you already know and love someone...the other girls have just been friends forever and none of us really get the time to hang. Its going to be so nice to get out and not have to worry about all 3 of my children for a little while. I'm so blessed to have a husband who encouraged my need to have some girl time and is graciously taking care of our two oldest while I'm gone.

Kate had to go to the Pediatrician's office this week cause she was coughing and it was causing her to gag and such and she hasn't been eating much. Ped. ended up putting her on a nebulizer and some albuterol to help...I've noticed a change just in one day, so hopefully she won't have to be on it forever, but GAH and I thankful that we have Medicaid and everything Kate needs is being taken care of without me having to blink an eye at how much it costs. Praise God for provision..even if it is through the state. :) I also was trying to get in with this pediatrician for several months and they kept saying they weren't taking new patiants..but I decided to call again yesterday and they said they'd take her(and I'm assuming my other 2 since I'm already there). It was such an answer to prayer and I'm so glad to have a more natural minded ped. who isn't quick to prescribe things my child doesn't need and didn't even bat an eye at our having not vaccinated her at all.

Took Olivia to get her hair cut today..she's been asking to have it done for a while and I put it off cause I was trying to grow it out, but at her age the long hair is soo hard to keep up with, so we opted for a chin length bob..she loves it and I'll be sure to post pictures of it soon, most likely on Facebook.

Anyways, its 12:12am and I know if I don't get to bed soon, I'll be regretting it later. :)

Its October!

I can't believe its already October. I know the rest of the year will just fly by...it always does. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years, time just goes so quickly.

This week has gone by quickly so far..last weekend we went to a HUGE consignment sale in Decatur..it was huge and there were sooo many people. It was great..it had tons of clothes, toys, strollers, car seats, cups, bottles, pumps, baby bedding, baby carriers, shoes....and tons of toys. We went to hopefully find a stroller, but couldn't find the one I wanted there...so I waited..Finally found the stroller I wanted on Tuesday and told her I'd come pick it up Wednesday..so I spent the morning making the trekk(sp?) to Stockbridge to pick that up. Then Mrs. Susan(Luke's mom) and grandmother came up and they've been with us since. Today we went to the park and just enjoyed a asian dinner..

Tonight they are at a Joyce Meyer conference, and we'll be enjoying our favorite night of television. Hooray! I'm also sitting here eating Pioneer Woman's apple dumplings...SOO unbelievebly tasty. :)

Well..

Our weekend went so fast. Luke worked all last week with Joel and is again this week, so the weekend went by like a light..I sure do miss him when he's gone. Today he had a hard time getting out of even our neighborhood cause some side walks had come apart and pieces of concrete were all over the road, and TONS of water. I told him to drive slow and watch for other drivers. All this rain also means we haven't gotten out much unfortunately..so the kids are going stir crazy.

I'm still sick over here...went in last week was diagnosed with Bronchitis and I'm still having a hard time breathing even though at least my coughing is being managed. Its mostly a spot in my back that hurts really bad when I take a deep breath. I am supposed to give it another week and if its not better, then I need to go in again and they will re-evaluate what to do next. I'd rather not have to go in since we don't have insurance for me anymore, so please pray things clear up this week! Noah's still coughing though not super often..but please pray he heals quickly too...we don't need more sickies here thats for sure.


We did however manage to go out on Sat. to a really big garage sale and got a few clothing items for Olivia and Noah..also Luke let them each pick a toy..they chose well and got the game Memory(Olivia's pick) and a 4 wooden puzzle set(Noah's pick) all of this for 13 dollars. Not too shabby. Our intention was to try and find a double stroller there, but they only had a few singles..so we went to Crib It which is a nice consignment here that kind of specializes in equipment and they had the stroller I wanted, but it wasn't priced down enough..so I've been watching Craigslist instead...e-mailed a lady who had the stroller I wanted but never got an e-mail back. Arg..if its sold, just tell me, or take your listing down! So I'm still on the market. We however sold our old lawn mower that was broken for 20 bucks yesterday so thats been put in an envelope to save to go towards the double stroller which we DESPERATELY need. I'm so tired of having to take 2 strollers every where.

Yesterday we seriously just chilled...did nothing. So nice...watched a movie though called Duplicity, which despite the implied sex scenes was a great movie! The story was great...Luke and I also hunkered down and finished Green by Ted Dekker...it was crazy and sooo thought prevoking on how the whole story comes together. Definitely a must read if you've read the other 3 books.

For all you mama's who read my site, a facebook friend gave me this link and now I'm seriously hooked checking it every day. Its called babysteals.com and they have a different product every day and are heavily discounted..like I got my nursing cover on there for 13ish dollars and they had Robeez the other day for 15! Every day its different..so check in often if you don't see one you can use. :) I've only bought from them once since I don't usually have the funds to shop all the time, but its good to check in incase something you actually need goes up for cheap!

The word..

This is excerpted from a longer word, but this is what really spoke to our situation. Mind you, when this lady gave this word, Luke had a stable job, we weren't looking to leave or get a new job,and didn't want to move, so this all sounded wacky to us. Little did we know almost 6 years later it would speak so profoundly to our situation.



And son even the job situation, and you’ve just kind of contemplated ‘God I’m not real sure whether this is where I’m supposed to be at, you know, do I go this way or do I go that way’, son I’m calling you today to just stand still and hear the word of the Lord, that when the time comes for you to move and take a different direction, I will give you very specific signs about which way I have called you to move, so this is just a time to sit and rest and know that you are where I’ve called you to be at this particular time, so don’t concern yourself with ‘what do I do, what do I do’, but know son I’m going to provide for you, because even as I’ve promised to provide for you and you wouldn’t have to worry about how the bills are going to be paid and how this is going to be paid, but know that My hand is in this says God and I’m going to bring you supernatural income that has nothing to do with being employed, but I am going to bring that income to you so that you can do the things that you have wanted to do--(it goes on to talk about ministering without worrying about where the money is going to come from as well).

The prophetic.

Luke and I decided to sit and listen to some of our old prophetic words that we haven't listened to in a while tonight. Most of them were when we were younger but we had one that was right after we got married..most of it didn't make sense at the time because none of it seemed to apply to us, but in listening to it tonight we were very encouraged by it, and it seemed to fit this time in our lives to a SUPER T..We are so thankful we were prompted to relisten to these and that God spoke and confirmed His love and care over us through them.

Emotions...

I'm always so amazed that I can be fairly level headed one day and perfectly calm, and so irrational and emotional the next day. Sometimes these days combine..haha..This past week and actually even the one before it have felt really overwhelming and emotional. I'm an easily stressed person and I easily get caught up in worrying. This makes for a interesting me sometimes.

Normally I have a lot of faith and I've had lots of peace about Luke not having a job and God providing. He's done it this far, so why in the world would I doubt Him....but I do. I'm so not proud of it, but its something I struggle with. Mortgage is due this week and we are really cutting it close. 2 days of work came up this week, thankfully so we'll be able to pay it on time I believe...but its always so amazing to me how God likes to wait to the last minute I think to see just how much we really are depending on Him.

I'm so glad we have an emotional God. Not in the sense that he worries or things like that, but that He understands the emotions we humans have and go through. Specially us females..haha..

Proof reading..

Have you noticed that I don't proof read my blogs before posting. When I look back and read them I realize just how many errors in spelling I make, or how I just leave words out on accident. My brain thinks to fast for my little fingers to keep up with it..:)

Luke and I have been reading 2 books together. One being, Walking With God by John Eldrege(sp?), and the other being Green by Ted Dekker. We don't plow through them as quickly when I'm having to read out loud versus be devouring them while reading to myself. So at least it isn't effecting the cleanliness of my home. haha..

Yesterday we went to the Zoo...it was the Bank of America free weekend(you get to go for free if you bank with them)..but it was also Labor Day weekend and it was crazy busy! We had fun though.and the kids really liked going. We got to see their new Parakeet exibit which was cool. Kate got worn the whole time so I was physically drained by the time we left, but it was all worth it, she slept and was content being worn.

Today we went to a house warming party for our new friends Tyler and Kelly...they are beyond sweet and we love hanging out with them. Its amazing how God brings people into your lives and we feel soo blessed to have met them. We had fun grilling out and letting the kids run wild. Thankfully, Kelly and Tyler don't seem to mind our energetic little ones.

Since Luke doesn't have a job, tommorrow doesn't really feel like a holiday since we have him home on so many other days...but who knows..maybe we'll go to the park or something to make it feel special. ;)

My birfday..

I had a pretty good birthday this year. Tuesday was my actual birthday..Luke gave me a new phone and hid it so when he called it I had to find it in the house. I've had the same cell phone since I was 21, so 3 years is a long time for a cell. :) I'm enjoying it, but having to learn how to use it...that evening we went to Chili's to celebrate dinner...despite the fact that the kids decided to be poopies that night while there it was fun to get out anyways.

Wednesday some friends came over and so did my sister and bro-in-law. We had so much fun and really enjoyed our time together. Of course birthday was involved..oh so yummy.

Today we went to the Library. I've been tearing into some books recently. Last week I finished Red and White by Ted Dekker, and then read New Moon too...which is no thin book mind you! I'm taking a break from reading cause my house started looking like poo when I reading instead of cleaning. :)

Plan on making a trip today to Bed Bath and Beyond to spend a gift card from my MIL..

Not much else happening...

Wow..

Its been a while since I've blogged...so yeah, that Confessions of a Shopaholic movie I was just talking about...went missing the day after we watched it. Olivia decided to put in a movie of her own and now she "can't find it"...so we ended up having to pay for it..did I mention it was a Blu ray? Oh well..at least Netflix says that if we find it within the next year, we can return it and get a refund on the purchase price.

Saturday, we went to the park and had a picnic for Wesley..he graduated school and we are so happy he's done! Yay for Wesley!! It was fun, his family was up here and my Dad came and went to it...we played corn hole(kind of a like a bean bag toss game for those of you who don't know)..then we ate Chili's that night..yummy.

Sunday, we were given tickets from my sister Erin's boss who couldn't use them anymore to go see Dora Live...We only took Olivia so she had a blast getting all the attention. It was her first on stage production and she LOVED it..she loved getting popcorn and getting to do stuff like jump around during the show. :) Its fun getting to take her places by herself. I feel like she doesn't get enough positive attention from us..so its good to lavish it on her. Plus, its funny how when you first have a kid, you don't think you can do anything more because now you have this child to tote around with you and then you have 3, and when you only have to take one child somewhere you realize how freakin easy it is!! haha...the learning curb of parenthood. Erin and Wesley watched Noah and Kate and I think its funny that they jumped from no kids to 2 for the day. :)

Yesterday we had friends over for dinner...Joel and Carol came and then we had a new set of friends come. We REALLY enjoyed having everyone come and we played Loaded Questions..and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Such a great game..of course we went to bed late late, and then Kate decided she wanted to wake up 3 times last night..so I'm officially pooped. Looks like nothing is on the agenda today but dishes and hopingly getting a nap! :)

Watched..

Confessions of a Shopaholic..I know where she's coming from. I don't have debt from it thankfully..but I would shop ALL the time if I had the money. :)

Good thing I don't..:)

Stuffs..

Today Kate got her first skirty(a wool skirt, and no its not scratchy!)..since we didn't cloth diaper Olivia, and then had a boy, this is the first time I've gotten to cloth diaper using GIRLY stuff..which there is SO much available to get..! I was able to sell some of Noah's diapers since we're potty training him and the mama who runs a business called Graceful Baby Designs offered to sew a custom skirty for Kate since she doesn't regularly stock her store. I had her do a natural colored one so it would go with everything. I recieved it today and its SOO stinkin cute. Will post pictures on FB soon enough. :)

Tomorrow we go and apply for both her birth certificate and her social security. We figured it was about time. Its a little more complicated filing when you've had an "out of institution" birth..not hard just more complicated.

Then Wednesday we will make the treck into ATL to my friends house and she's going to pierce Kate's ears. We did Olivia's at 3 months and I don't regret it ONE bit. She has loved them ever since she knew they were there, which actually wasn't till like a year 1/2ish ago...I really like my friend doing it more then a store who's been piercing who knows how many people. I trust the way my friend keeps her piercing gun clean..

Yesterday we had Erin and Wesley come over..we had so much fun hanging with them..we always do! We enjoyed Luke's fresh tortillas made into burritos, brownies with icecream and LOTS of Rock Band 2...

Last night we watched "Boy In The Striped Pajamas"..and oh my...it was so sad. You'll have to see it to understand..but goodness, it practically had me in tears.

Anyways..getting ready to watch The Secret Life of an American Teenager...still not sure why I still watch this..haha..but I do.

I walked 2.5 miles today...

I'm proud...:)

I bought Olivia's school curriculum this week. We decided to go with Rod and Staff and even with the two extra books they offer for her age(not the standard 5) and with shipping included, I only spent $35.00...Yesterday we had fun going to Wal-mart and getting all the stuff like pencils, kids scisors, stick glue, contruction paper, back pack to keep it all in. I've never seen a little girl so giddy...I think it will be good for her to have something thats her's and doesn't have to share schooling just yet.

Several weeks ago, Luke applied for a job that was promising but they weren't reviewing resume's till the hiring guy came back from vacation...we heard back today that the hiring dude came home and hired his engineer neighbor. Then got a notice in the mail that another position he had applied for decided not to hire him. 2 jobs down the drain. Please continue to pray for favor and for us to not get discouraged in this time in our lives. God's continued provision keeps us afloat, but this season hasn't been easy. Luke's been unemployed for a little over 5 months...

We watched this movie last night thanks to Netflix watch now..called Awakenings..it has Robin Williams and Robert Deniro in it, and it was soo good. Its an older movie, but well worth watching. We also watched The Knowing, and it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone said it was..but perhaps we just have weird taste in movies. :) We also watched(ok, this wasn't all in one day..just catching up on what we've seen recently), The Soloist..which I thought was good too..specially since the guy is originally from ATL.

Yesterday I wanted pancakes SOO bad..like cry if I don't get them bad...and my sweet hubby went out and bought some pancake mix(I really just need to start making my own) and not only did he come back with the mix, but some roses..He's such a super sweet guy. I'm so thankful for him and all his wonderful help.

We've been walking..

A lot recently. We have a park near to us that has the prettiest 1 mile loop track. Its all back through the woods, has bridge and lots of big rocks that the kids love climbing on if we take a break..plus it has mile markers so you can tell how far you've walked. We've gone twice this week, but I've also been working the treadmill..hoping all this walking will help some.

I'm trying to figure out how I could POSSIBLY gather up the like 300 or so dollars it would take to put some IKEA flooring in my dining room and kitchen. I am literally SOOO amazingly tired of the horribly stained carpet in the dining room that I cannot possibly keep clean with children, or the extremely ground in dirty lenolium in the kitchen. No matter how much I sweep and mop, it stays dirty and makes the whole room look gross. Obviously I can't justify the cost when it comes to new flooring over groceries, but I KNOW God cares about the little details..and I KNOW He cares for me. So we'll see. :)

Can you believe Kate is 11 weeks old? She's getting so big and so sweet...she's also sleeping through the night now..like we're putting her down around 10:00 and she sleeps till like 7-8am..she's been my best sleeping baby..specially for a nursing baby. I am so thankful...now if the other two would sleep better. They've determined its fun to be up before 7...arg.

I love my family..

I was just sitting here watching Luke playing Xbox with Wesley and thinking how thankful I am that we all get along. You know there are soo many families that have horrible relationships with inlaws and even their own parents and siblings, and I am just SOO blessed to be in such a great family and to have married into another great family.
I love how 2 Parrish's, 2 Fletcher, and 2 Fieldings are all in the same family.
I love that we can all hang out without drama errupting.
I love that my sister in law and I have had 2 of our babies within weeks of each other and that they get to have cousin's so close in age.
I love that even though Raquel isn't legally related to me, I count her as my sister in law, and that she has treated us like close family.
I love that I gained 5 sister in laws and 4 brother in laws over the years.
I love that my parents in law want relationship with me and makes it easy for me to love them.
I love that my family isn't just family, but friends.

I am blessed more then money could ever buy!

Call me a heathen..

But I liked the Twilight movie. I debated for a long time whether or not to see it. My spirit is very sensitive to dark stuff/cult type things and I've walked out of movies/turned them off a few times because of this. I don't have a problem not seeing the end of the movie if it means protecting my spirit. However, as I sat there and watched and kept waiting for some dark moment to happen that would send me in disgust to turn it off, it never happened..and I actually LIKED the movie. It was kind of cheesy, but hey..it IS about vampires and I personally find it a bit cheesy of a topic. haha..not sure I wanted to wait till New Moon comes out to watch it to know what happens next, so I tried to check the book out..and I'm only like 60 something on the list of people waiting for a copy..and 99 for the third book. At this rate, I'll be able to see the movie first..haha..

And for those of you thinking, well you might as well read Harry Potter..I won't. Its hard to debate on a blog, but I personally am convicted about not reading/watching them.

We're home!

We got back late Sunday night and it felt soo good to sleep in my own bed. We even changed the sheets on the bed before we got in even though they probably didn't need it...I wanted that nice crisp clean sheet feel when I got in. The kids finally got to watch their Blue Ray movie Monday...Netflix probably wonders why we have had the same two movies since like almost 2 months ago. haha..Going to try and watch mine today so I can send it back later today or tomorrow.

Came back to two very pretty bell peppers in my garden! (and some yummy weird colored/shaped cucumbers..). The kids literally ate all the peppers in one sitting. Apparently I know some good veggies to buy for snacking when mine stop producing.


Getting into the swing of working out. Been doing lots of Wii Resort and I used my treadmill Monday night...I plan on using it again tonight. I walked for 30 minutes, burned 180 calories, walked 1.4 miles and only had to take a 30 second breather once. Not too shabby...we'll see how well I can keep up tonight now that my leg muscles have actually been worked. haha..My first goal is to lose 5 lbs. I wanted to be realistic in my weight loss, so 5 is my first goal...then I'll go for 5 more until I've lost the 30 I want to lose to get back to a more decently sized me.

Its Luke's birthday today!! I'm so glad he was born and was raised so well...he's been the BEST husband and he's most certainly my best friend after the Lord. Honey, I pray the Lord blesses you, pours His favor on you, and gives back to you 100% and more what you've given out. You deserve this special day..:)

Our cat apparently has seperation anxiety now...poor kitty..I guess this is what we get for leaving her for so long(even though she was well cared for while we were gone). Now when the house is quiet and she doesn't know where we are, she starts meowing really loud and you have to like reassure her your still there. Really annoying at night..

Olivia's got a nasty cough this week. No other symptoms...weird.

New back ground..!

Felt like changing it up..:) Now, if only I could figure out how to get my followers widget back. arg.

Hemangiomas..

My child has a hemangioma..Its a benign tumour of cells(the cells that line the blood vessels). They aren't usually present at birth and grow during the first year, and usually go away by age 2. Olivia's started showing up around a few weeks old..her's was on her lip and in part of her cheek on the inside. We got asked soo many times if she had busted her lip! ..By age 2 you could barely even tell it was there and now you'd never have known she had one. (Olivia at age 3 months)



When Kate was born we noticed she had some weird spots on her stomach..didn't think much of them. At her one week visit with a ped we asked about them and she said they were hemangiomas. Fast forward another week and I notice the same red mark on her head...oh great. She's 2 months old now and its gotten bigger and way noticable. It doesn't bother me a bit, but it is kind of annoying to have to tell everyone what it is..and yet I think it kind of bothers me more if people just ignored it and thought my kid had some crazy weird birthmark.. I've done my research about it girls have a much higher rate of getting them then boys, which would probably explain why Noah never got one. We are just believing for God to keep its growth to a minimum and for it not to leave any kind of scarring type stuff.

Its funny cause she has hair there(which I am soo thankful for as I've read it can leave bald spots when they are on the head...we aren't receiving this for Kate one bit) and it sticks up higher then the rest of her hair..haha..so she kind of has a crooked little tiny mohawk. :)

Why is it..

That when you have lots to post about you don't? And when you don't have much to post on you do? Then by NOT blogging when there is stuff to blog about you get totally overwhelmed and don't end up blogging anything at all, which only compounds the situation.

We are here for 3 more days then we are headed back to our beloved home which I never thought I would be SOO excited to see. :) Our cat is going to be so unbelievably needy when we get back.

Today Kate was a whole 'nother child. She barely napped, and wanted to eat NONE STOP, and if she wasn't being fed she was cranky and crying for most of it. I think she may be going through a growth spurt and is trying to nurse a lot to make up for it. I'll be thankful to have my sweet baby back when this is over, despite the fact that she is definitely my more high needs baby compared to the other two. But it also doesn't help that we don't have a bouncy seat, or swing or anything really to entertain her while we are here. She's kind of at the age where she can enjoy those a bit more. Although she did do really well at Wal-mart today when I went. She rode in the cart the whole time.

Looking forward to seeing my sister and BIL this weekend! Its been like 6-7 weeks since I've seen them...

Sweet sleep..

My kids are all napping. We were gone most of the day to Tallahasse with Susan F(my mother in law) to get Kate some much needed clothes(the poor girl is in size 6 months of Target's clothing!). I threw away/gave away a lot of Olivia's stuff when she outgrew it, so we didn't have much for her to grow into...but now she's got some stuff..yay! Had lunch at Chili's and Susan saw some old friends there, and when we went to leave the waitress said that the two little old ladies had paid for our lunch!! We were both stunned and oh so thankful for such sweet generosity. Neither one of us had to pay..haha..so nice. May the Lord return the blessing on them.

Tried to go to what used to be the Once Upon a child there and they no longer carry any used clothing for kids! Ugh..it was like my favorite place to go and now its just new furniture and the such. Lame. So we went to Target, cause they have such reasonably priced clothing that actually lasts for a while. However, with all this driving and going, Kate never really slept the whole time we were gone, so she was soo cranky and sleepy when we got home. I have a feeling I won't hear from her for a couple hours.

Last night we ate dinner out with the Fletcher's. They treated us to Applebee's and had Jessica(my sister in law) watch the kids(minus Kate) for us. Came back and played Seven Up, Seven down. We had fun and we always end up laughing about something funny..

Soooo glad its the weekend!! I can't wait to have my hubby back and not working for the moment. :)

Random info..

-- This visit Noah had with our family friend Dr. was the first one he's had since he was 9 months. Olivia hasn't been since she was 3, Kate has only been once to get her PKU testing done. I just don't go to them unless they are needed.

-- I still haven't gotten my crown put back on since I lost it. I know, I know..its weird, but odds are I'm going to have to replace it, and we just don't have $600+ to get a new one right now.

-- While I'm in a slightly less then comfortable position, I really love nursing while laying down. Kate's all snuggled into me and we make lots of good eye contact..to me its why I love nursing.

-- I cannot wait to start walking/jogging/running when I get home. My tread mill will not believe how much I'm using it. :)

-- My body is literally ALWAYS hungry right now. I only need around 500 extra calories to sustain my milk supply, but apparently all my calorie consuming makes my milk fatty cause my kids are always chunky. haha..

--I'm still wearing my maternity pants because I don't want to buy pants in a bigger size when I'm headed towards weight loss. Its true what they say, with your first you can't wait to wear maternity clothes, with your second you wear your regular ones as long as you can, and with the 3rd maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes. :)

-- Cannot fall asleep before like 11:30...try as I may, my body won't let me. So I'm usually a tired mama the next morning, and yet still can't fall asleep till late..Its weird.

Liam..

My nephew Liam was born last night weighing 8 lbs. 15 oz..

Congrats Josh and Alison, we can't wait to meet him! Love you guys!

Hmm.

I realized yesterday that more of Kate's life has been spent at my parents home then in our own. We've been here over a month..! Dad and Luke are hoping to be finished this week, so we might be able to go home this weekend..! But we'll see. I'm trying not to hold my breath. I'm ready for my home again.

Spent Saturday at my grandparents house..they had a little get together for my cousin who just got married. It was fun and I'm glad I got to see my whole family on that side before going back. Not sure when we'll all be together again. Sunday we went swimming by ourselves at the Fletcher's pool. They weren't home, and Dad didn't come with us. It was nice having it just be us, but it also more fun with more people though. It was a bit chilly though cause the sun kept going behind clouds and due to all the rain we've had this past week the water was cooler then it has been. Had a lazy afternoon, ate spaghetti for dinner, the kids went to bed, Kate went to bed around 9:15, and Dad, Luke and I all played Hand and Foot(a card game). Luke beat us both...

Today its back to the work week and I'm alone again. I'm trying to get used to it again since I know one of these days Luke's going to have job again and I don't need to be quite so dependent on him so much. I'm constantly doing laundry with the way the guys are sweating through shirts and pants..I'll be glad to get back to just Luke and the kids laundry. haha..

My SIL is being induced today, so hopefully we'll get to meet my new little nephew Liam soon! :)

Diet, what diet?

Yeah, so 6 weeks has come and gone and thats when I was planning on starting to cut back on calories and start working out. Well, I don't have my treadmill, so I'll just have to work the Wii Fit while here till I get back home, but the calorie counting is hard to do while cooking for Dad too. I'm better on snacks at least, opting for fresh fruit and trail mixes that are low in calories. But I am SOO hungry. I'm more hungry now then I was while pregnant. No wonder I put on some weight after Noah was born! I'm trying to learn the balance between eating right and not cutting out everything I find yummy, and not binging. :)

Olivia was really helpful today. I wanted to make note because she isn't always...today she helped fold ALL the cloth wipes in the diaper load, put clothes away for me, held Kate while I needed to do something,and put all the toys away.

Noah's started his first round of antibiotics this week. Its sad, cause we've made it almost 2 1/2 years without any sort of medication outside of Tylenol. The other day we noticed a little tiny rash...which I didn't think much of, but it got bigger, crustier and redder. So we had our family Dr. here in Thomasville look at it and he said to watch it and let him know if it got worse...well it did. We took him back and he thinks its quite possibly Impetigo..so not only is he on that, but a sort of prednisone due to something else going on with his skin. Please pray for his healing and that it doesn't spread to any of us. It hasn't so far, so I'm praying!!

I think Kate may be going through a growth spurt. All she wants to do if she's awake is nurse....I love our nursing relationship but growth spurts are physically draining for me. You'd think all that sitting and nursing wouldn't be tiring, but it is! I'll be happy when she slows up a bit..

We had pizza for dinner tonight...so I might need to up the anty on Wii Fit tonight. :)

I have a theory..

That Sponge Bob is ALWAYS on...I think that Nickelodeon only runs that and iCarly..Good thing my kids like Spongebob!

The weekend went pretty well. Dad helped a lot, allowing me to sleep in both mornings and keeping an eye on sleeping children while I went to Tally one day to Target. We enjoyed hanging with Luke's side of the family for a birthday party and then we had a lazy sunday(this reminds me of a song..:) ) and ate dinner at Wendy's when Luke got back around dinner time. So glad to have him back!

Kate had her first bottle last night..she did really well. I was wondering how she'd do because this is the longest I've ever waited to give one, but she did great..drank it, and then still wanted to nurse 20 minutes later..haha..such a hardcore eater that one is. No wonder she's gaining like crazy! I don't usually make bottles a habit since I am PRO breastfeeding, but I don't want her to not take one if I ever needed to leave her, or emergency situations..so I give them one every now and then just to make sure they won't refuse one. At least its breastmilk in the bottle. :)

We are dining with Luke's parents tonight..to enjoy some red beans and rice and stewed chicken. Good Belizean food!

My right hand man..

Is leaving again this weekend to go back to ATL so that he can draw some plans for a guy up there. He can't do it here since he doesn't have Auto Cad on this computer..I'm sad because he's leaving tonight and not coming back till Sunday..so our whole weekend will be spent apart and it will be back to the work week when he returns so I won't have gotten any real family time with him in before...which always makes me sad, not to mention he'll be gone for 2 nights this time instead of 1 like last time. I'm still running on a large amount of hormones and even writing this makes me want to sob. I don't know how people do it when their spouses go away for longer periods of time. I know you usually just make do and do the best, but still...emotionally its hard.

Monday, Luke went and played vollyball...it was fun to watch. Wednesday Dustin came over and made us Potstickers for dinner. Very yummy and we enjoyed his company. Then last night Josh and Stephanie came over and we hung out with them over some Pioneer Woman's apple dumplings. Tomorrow, I'll be heading over to Luke's cousin's house for a birthday party for her son. Should be fun, my only hesitation is just handling the 3 kids by myself while out. You just never know how they will react when out in public.

I'm definitely getting homesick now. I'm still loving being close to family and friends, but I'm really wanting routine back and all the familiarities of your own home.

I think Kate's acne is finally clearing up!! Hooray...I can't believe she's 6 weeks old now. Time goes by so quickly.

Monday again?

I try and be a good sport about a new week and from a Christian perspective, I should love a new start, but I'm not really loving these Monday's.

Hung out with Kristen and Dustin on Thursday night..we had fun and talked it up..Friday I went to get my eye brows waxed...which they look oh so much better. I have no eye brow shaping skills! :) Then we went grocery shopping and I made Taco salad for dinner..yummo!

Saturday my Dad graciously watched the kids and allowed Luke and I to sleep in...ahh..so nice. We really didn't get up till around 10:30, then learned the big Fletcher 4th of July thing at their house started at 11:00..haha..so we quickly rushed and got ready and was only a few minutes late. :) The kids swam, we all ate, and enjoyed some Bocce ball before we headed home around 3:30 for the kids to take a late nap. Enjoyed some fried rice for dinner and then we headed back over to enjoy the fireworks with the Fletcher's and the Fritzsche's..

Yesterday we really didn't do much at all. It was very relaxed and all I did was some laundry and baked a cake..and made it into a jello cake. SOO good. :)

Today it has been raining most of the morning, so I've had both guys around all morning. Such a nice nice surprise to wake up to. They stayed and ate lunch and just now left to do a few things this afternoon. Could take them an hour, or all afternoon depending on a few things, so I'm hoping its the quicker of the two. :)

Hmm..

Anyone get a tiny bit sad when they see like an Orange Glo commercial or Oxyclean and there is Billy Mays..? So sad...guess his show won't last long. Kind of weird with just one guy.

This week we haven't done a whole lot. Yesterday was busy, but the rest of the week was kind of lazy. Yesterday I went to lunch with Dad, Luke, and Willie Roberts at the Mexican restaurant. Oh so yummy! How I have missed you chalupa and guacamole. Then I went and got Olivia a new pair of Crocs. My kids are soo hard on shoes and these are the only ones I've found that can take their brutalness and can get wet. We got her some nice metallic pink ones..She's been wearing them ever since....guess she likes them! Then we went swimming at the inlaws house with Luke's cousin and my close friend Patti and her sister Elisabeth(and Elisabeth's son London). Had fun playing in the water for about 2 hours then got out and had Susan's homemade pizza...very good stuff. Came home and Dad, Luke and I played Trivial Pursuit. None of us were very good and ended the game at Luke winning 2 questions right..haha..it really IS trivial information. Then I played Luke at Life and won...hooray! Then I went to bed...ahh..sweet sleep.

Today is supposedly supposed to be a short work day as the men can't do much right now since they are waiting on subs to do different work right now. So I'm hoping I won't be alone all day..not to mention, I REALLY need my eye brows waxed and today would be good.

I'm kind of sad that we won't be in ATL for the 4th. After seeing the fireworks there, the ones here will really look lame. Not to mention, I sure miss hanging out with my sister and Wesley. Even though we may not see each other tons, there is something about knowing you can't see them when you want that makes it feel oh so much longer. I wish they had more time off to come here...! I'm thinking the boys won't take a 4th of July break tomorrow if they can get anything accomplished.

I had sold all my newborn diapers this past week and even after I had bought more smalls, I had enough money left over to buy a new diaper bag. I have been using the same Sherpani one for the last year and 1/2 and thats a long time for me. So I went to Hallmark and browsed through the Vera Bradley bags. I really like their new Baby Bag design..its smaller then the last design so I went with that and got the Purple Punch color. Girly, but not too girly that Luke won't carry it. :)

Anyways..thats it for right now. We are going to the Fletcher's house on Sat. for a Thomasville Fletcher get together, so hopefully I'll remember to take pics while there..!

I feel like I'm losing it.

When staying at other people's house the art of keeping your children entertained becomes a chore to me. When at your own home, your kids *typically* know what to play with and what not too, but that is not really so when staying else where. My children feel like super destructive being right now. The house has been sharpied, sprayed with random sprays and reorganized...and I feel like I'm about to go insane! The kids have toys and have ample channels to choose from..but no. They want to mess with stuff...and Liv is doing this "look what Noah did" thing, but in all actuality she's helping him...its frustrating.

Yesterday we went to Valdosta again and hung out with all of Luke's brothers and their families(and his parents). We had fun and there are always lots of laughs and story telling. Then came home and played Bible Trivia with Dad...Luke won..and I only got 2 questions right..apparently I need to be reading the bible more! haha...Dad was only one question away from beating Luke...it was funny. BTW, Mom..where is that new board you have? We played with the torn one.

Going to try and go swimming tomorrow, but it may rain, so we'll see.

Alrighty, well I'm off to get the kids ready for bed so I can watch "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" in peace...don't hate me for watching this show. I watched the last two seasons online when I was bored and now I'm hooked...

I nursed in public!!

Ok, so it was in a dark theater and I did have a blanket over me, but still! It was the first time I haven't gone to the bathroom or the car..and I'm just proud. Its a start and hopefully seeing that this is my third I'll gain more confidence and be able to do it more and hopefully not just in a dark theater.

We went and saw Transformers 2 in Tally last night and it was great! Not sure why no one likes it..Kate only nursed once and then slept the rest of the time...so it was a nice evening out. :)


We've been in T'ville for a week and a half. I'm really loving seeing family, but I'm partially starting to get homesick. I want my bed back...haha..But I don't know when the next time we'll be down will be, so I'm trying to really soak it all in and enjoy the time here. I also miss my diaper sprayer..haha..I find it so gross to leave Noah poo on a diaper. Makes the washing machine have to work so much harder to get them clean.

Today was a long day..

I thought it was going to start well, but Noah decided to throw his paci out of the pack-n-play he's been sleeping in while here and wouldn't lay off the "Mommy...." that he kept saying cause he wanted me to retrieve it for him. (This was after I had put him BACK in the PNP due to his sister letting him out and them playing in the bedroom by themselves..never a good thing). So instead of waking up Kate every time I got out of bed, I gave up and got up...then Noah wouldn't eat the cereal I gave him and proceeded to throw and hour long tantrum. NO JOKE...I ended up putting him in the living room in my parents house that has a door and letting him cry(this was of course, after I had disciplined him).

At least he stopped and we went about our day. Kate was pretty good all morning, not too fussy and Liv didn't break anything. :) Lunch went well, Luke, Kate and I went and picked up Arby's for lunch, and enjoyed it...then Kate decided she was sleepy when the big kids were! Score..so I did what I needed to and then slipped into my room to lay down..I got an hour and 15 minute nap...just enough to feel better. Luke called and wanted me to bring the kids swimming at his parents, so I wrangled the bunch up, put on bathing suits and nursed the wee one. They swam for a while, then we went to Wal-mart to get some groceries for the week...Came home, ate pizza, and put the kids to bed...now I'm pooped and should be going to bed, but I don't want to. Luke is going back to ATL tomorrow to check in on the cat, get mail, water plants, get a few things we forgot...and he isn't coming back till Thursday..and I'm nervous about losing my right hand man overnight..have I mentioned how much he does for me and how LOST I am without him..?! Not to mention...I'm still a hormonal mess and it makes for a needy me..and I don't like being alone....so sleeping by myself is depressing to me. I may have to move Kate from the PNP and put her in bed with me just so I won't be alone. (How sad am I??)

Hoping to go get to see Transformers this week!! Hooray!

60th!

Its my 60th post...just for the record.

Its also Father's day!! I'm soo thankful to have such wonderful father's in my life.

My dad is great, he's a great example of a hard worker who isn't afraid to do what's needed to care for his family. He's super loving and dotes on his kids and grandkids, and is beyond giving of his time, energy and money.

Luke's dad is also great..he loves having deep conversations and has taken care of many issues for us, he raised an amazing son and I can't help but be thankful for being such a great example for Luke.

Then there is Luke...he's my rock(next to God)..he seriously does soo much for our family I don't know what I would do without him. Luke isn't afraid to be a 50/50 parents. He deals with both the older kids every morning so I'm not bothered, he stays up late with me even though when he has work he has to be up super early, he gets up and hands Kate to me, burps her and changes her diapers every night so I can be as restful as I can while up nursing her. He also isn't afraid to do dishes, help me fold laundry or take the kids out for the afternoon just so I can get a nap, and puts the kids to bed every night all by himself. I'm so glad Noah will have such a great example of what a man is, and such a great example for Olivia and Kate of what to look for in a man. He prays for the kids, reads them the bible and has a much more consistant disciplinarian way about him. I honestly can't dote enough on him... He has delivered two of his kids himself and that's a hardcore father who can accept that challenge. He has defended our choice of homebirth, cloth diapering, breastfeeding and all things natural even in the midst of criticism amongst other men. It seems like I can't possibly love him more...I'm so thankful God chose Luke to be my children's father. They are so blessed to have him. Love you honey..your the best!

Headed over to Valdosta today to see the grands. Hopefully some pictures will follow. :)

For Mom..a run down of our day..so you could be there..sorta. :)

Today we all slept in..which was soo nice. Kate slept like a log last night and even though it has left this poor mama engorged most of the day, it was well worth it. :)

We all got ready and went to the Fletcher's pool and enjoyed a couple hours there. I only got two pictures, but hey..its better then nothing! The water was soo warm and felt so good in this dang heat. Atlanta hasn't been this hot yet and we apparently have become pansies. :) Then we treated Pop's to some Sonny's for lunch, before crashing for afternoon naps. Something about swimming makes a person tired.

Went to Wal-mart tonight to get Father's day cards and presents..Dad will like his..I'll post later on what he got. He went to Steve's group tonight..so we are PopPop less at the moment. But I'm glad he's getting a break from having to help babysit all the time. I'm sure he says he doesn't mind..but its always nice to get a break. :)

Love you..hope you had a great night going out!

I'm not as difficult as I let on..

So the pediatrician we originally saw to have Kate's PKU testing done is so not ok with me. The whole homebirth thing THREW her for a loop and she treated us like unknowledgable parents who were being difficult about stuff. No, we didn't do eye drops, no we didn't do Vit. K shot, no we DON'T want to start vaccinating my baby yet and yes we would have denied all this crap if we had given birth in the hospital..! Its a good thing I didn't tell her we co-sleep and let our babies sleep on their tummies. I probably would have gotten the third degree and the CPS called on me..arg. So we left them to find someone else...and we did thankfully. Some friends go to him and love him...he's an hour away from us, but I guess since we don't go unless sick, its not that big of a deal.

I really love co-sleeping. It works for us..I know its not for everyone, but I love hearing my baby breath at night, and snuggling up next to her as I nurse her back to sleep. I love that she sleeps soo much better this way and that I know transitioning her to a crib later will be easier(or at least it has been for my first two). I love that Luke loves having her there too, if he wasn't supportive it would be a lot harder to make the decision to have her there.

So I'm down here in T'ville. Its nice being in very familiar territory, but this is one of the first times I haven't felt like I was coming home. Thomasville will always be part of my home, I mean its where I grew up my entire life, but I know that my home is with my hubby, no matter where that is and its a nice feeling, because I know that I'm maturing enough to let go of what was...and embrace what is.
I'm loving seeing people I know! No matter where you go it seems like you see someone..haha..Tonight we are eating with Luke's parents. Its nice to be taken care of. My brother and sister in law are coming down next week for a bit, and I cannot wait to get to see them. I'm glad our time here will coincide with theirs..we don't get to see them much. And Alison, if your reading this...no pressure, but it sure would be nice for you to go just a wee bit early and have Logan so I can meet him while your here...haha..but no pressure. :)

Its also weird being here while Mom's not. She's in TX getting her the birth she needs to get certified and its strange walking around the house with her not here. Know that we miss you Mom just as much as you miss us. The house feels empty and weird without you, and I find it feels so weird taking on the wifey roll. We wish you were here but we're proud your accomplishing what you need to do.

First day..

Of having the kids all by myself. Luke has run errands before, but nothing over an hour or so...So far, so good. Hopefully it stays that way.

God's providing. Luke's parents are wanting their garage re-done and they want my Dad and Luke to do it for them. So most likely, we'll all be headed down in a week or so to do that. It will be nice to be in T'ville for longer then a weekend. Makes it a lot easier to fit in time with people that way. Dad also has another possible project that would require help from another guy and so Luke will most likely be helping him there too...

Tomorrow is Luke and I's 6th anniversary. Its soo hard to believe we've been married this long, but I'm so happy. I know tons of people are married longer then this, but in this day and age, 6 years is nothing petty. :) We will be going out to dinner tomorrow evening and just enjoying it. Its Sat. and I still don't have a card or any kind of gift for him...guess I'll be making an outing today. :)

Kate's doing well, and the kids are adjusting. They are both learning to be gentle and Kate's learning how to just roll with the punches(not literally!..haha). Yesterday I vacuumed and she slept through the whole thing...something neither of my first two did. I guess all that vacuuming in my pregnancy got her used to the noise..now if the quiet talking that Luke and I do when we go to bed wouldn't bother her so much..haha.

Kate's birth story..

Thursday morning I woke up like any other preggo day and set about my routine of getting the kids breakfast and doing cleaning. Got into a good rythem and ended up vaccuming, sweeping, mopping, cleaning out a crate that the dog had decided to take a huge load in(uck!), and still felt pretty good physically. However, I was still upset about not having her yet even though I wasn't officially due yet...Made a few rants about her not being here, felt better afterwards. Made lunch, and decided I wanted naptime to be a little bit earlier today..I was feeling the cleaning I had done by now..so I had Liv lay down with me and put Noah in his bed. We all went to sleep pretty quickly thankfully. At approx. 4 I woke up with a nice contraction...umm..this one felt different..but I have had soo many false starts I wasn't about to get excited about one contraction...thought maybe I needed to potty..so went to the bathroom..didn't feel any better...laid down again cause Liv was still asleep. Another one hit...7 minutes from the first. Woke Liv up with my breathing through it..I waited and couldn't lay down through the next one. 7 minutes later. At 4:30 I called Luke cause he had been working with Joel that day..Luke said he was excited at the prospect of labor and was already on his way home.

Called my mom and told her I thought I was in labor...she decided to head this way as quickly as she could. Worked through a few more contractions and Luke made it home...He called my midwife and I requested 30 minutes before she needed to come because I wanted to be sure it was the real deal, but he quickly knew this wasn't the pansy contractions I'd been having so he told me to go get in the shower to help the pain(I love a man who knows how to help a woman in labor!). He set about calling people who needed to know..and called the midwife back to tell her to go ahead and come. He also called two friends and my sister..

Worked through lots and lots of contractions in the shower till Luke reminded me that we needed the hot water for the pool, so I got out...ugh. Not as good out of the hot water. Barely made it down stairs to the couch and more kept washing over me. Luke started filling the birth pool and we turned on the t.v. for Liv to watch some shows to distract her. (Noah was still sleeping at this point). Poor Luke was running around trying to get everything ready while trying to keep my focus during the contractions(I handle the pain MUCH better when I have someone staring right into my eyes during it.). Debi, my midwife showed up and started unloading her stuff..I decided I needed to go to the bathroom, so I got up and went..asked Debi to check me then and she said I was just about 8 cm's...yay! Progress...I was worried I was still in early labor..but here I was in transition. Pool was finally deep enough by now to actually get in, so I got in and sat down...it wasn't as hot as I like it, but it did feel oh so good. I really almost immediately started feeling pressure with each contraction but I was determined not to push yet, I really really wanted that urge to push because I never had that with my other two and it made pushing worse for me. Debi got birth stuff ready, while Luke helped me and occasionally updated his facebook status. haha..

I decided I wanted to move to a hands and knees position because I wasn't dealing with the contractions as well sitting back..Luke walked off to do something, and me and Debi worked through some contractions. (At this point, Noah had gotten up and they were watching t.v. and coming in and out of the room(we were in the kitchen)). During one contraction, I felt LOTS of pressure and went with it...and gave a really good push and felt her move down some...Debi hollered to Luke to COME, and I quickly panicked about pushing cause I didn't want to swell my cerviz by pushing before it was ready...so I just yelled, "Debi, check!"...thankfully she knew what I meant and said all I had was a tiny little lip(same thing happened with Noah...must be the way I dialate), at this point I really needed to push and she said she would just hold it up while I pushed...once she did that I felt the baby move down a lot and immediately started feeling the lovely burn of a crowning baby. Decided I wanted to push past the pain anyways...better to push and be done with it, then continue with the pain..haha..however I felt panicky, so I just stopped and I reached down and felt a slippery head and told Debi to "please break it"..(I thought my water hadn't broken yet and I wanted it to be!), but it had already broken apparently. Luke and Debi said I had her out to her ears...so I gave one good push and out her head popped, such a great feeling, but she still felt like I was having a watermelon, so again I just stopped and I just remember saying that I didn't want to push. We let her sit that way for what felt like minutes, but I know it was only a matter of seconds...it felt to me like they were pushing her head up, and I kept telling them to "stop pushing" on her..course Debi kept reminding me she wasn't even touching the baby..haha..the baby apparently was trying to rotate her shoulders some and thats what I was feeling. I was also prompted to reach down and feel her head at this point to reassure me she WAS coming out. This gave me enough incentive to push again..

I gave another good push or two and the AWESOME release of a baby leaving your body finally happened, Luke caught her and helped her to the surface and around my leg so I could sit back and take her in my arms. Luke and I both immediately looked between her legs and Luke announced- "Its a girl!!"....which I could NOT have been more happy about. I had been secretly hoping for a girl the whole time..she was so cheesy and I remember thinking, well she's not late thats for sure. There is an indescribable feeling that you get after having a baby..its a natural high that I know designed and its the BEST feeling ever...I was just so happy to be finally holding her after all the fake labor and long almost 10 months. :) She needed some suctioning and stimulation, but she was breathing and healthy and thats all I could ask for.

Sat in the tub for a while admiring my baby, all the while we realized the kids had been at tub side for the whole birth. I didn't prepare Noah at all really, so I'm so glad I didn't scare him with all my birthing noises, but neither he nor Liv looked traumatized, so we went with that. (Debi's assistant showed up right before I started pushing for detail sake). Her other apprentice showed up right after Kate was born and so did my sister..Kate waited for no one. :) Placenta finally decided to come about 7:06ish(Kate was born at 6:42pm). We hung out in the pool till the cord stopped pulsing(my first time waiting!) and then we cut it at 7:14...We passed off baby to Luke and the ladies got my upstairs(stairs after giving birth aren't ok..:) ) Got me showered, dressed and in bed. I was brought some crackers till dinner was ready and I tried nursing Kate, however she was less then interested at this point. I was examined and we found NO TEARS, praise the Lord! Better then my first two where I had at least some "skid marks".. Then Kate got her exam, she weighed 10 lbs. even, was 21 1/2 inches long, her head was 14 1/4 inch, and her chest was 14 7/8 inches. Such a big girl all around!

Around 8:49, Kate finally nursed for the first time...Kate was having some breathing issues, but these resolved themselves after about 24 hours. Just seems like she had lots of fluid that she needed to get up because she wasn't squeezed very long in the birth canal.

My mom showed up around 9:00 sometime and then we all went about relaxing and just chatting..it was so laid back and wonderful and such a GREAT birth experience.

I'm sure I missed details because when your laboring things tend to be kind of foggy, but this is the best of what I can remember. :)