I forgot to remember...

to be thankful for my kids! In all the chaos that my days are filled with lately, I have lost sight of how truly blessed I am! Seriously, it's like supernanny times 10 aroundhere at our zoo/circus! I haven't been able to blog until now for fear that I would go off on a complaining tangent. Pregnancy has been anything but enjoyable. I am in awe of a lady whose blog I just read. She found out at around 10 weeks pregnant that her baby was gonna die. The doctors thought she'd miscarry, but she ended up going to 35 weeks. The baby boy lived for about an hour and 40 minutes. She had a birth announcement picture and video from a memorial service. She sounded totally at peace. I was crying my eyes out and I don't even know her. That story and a blog I read about stopping yelling at my kids have been a wake-up call for me tonight! I often find myself resenting my kids because they require so much training, correction, discipline, energy, etc. But HELLO! That's what being a parent is all about! Please pray for me! And especially for that family who just lost their baby, the Perkins family.

I'm a new believer...

in Shout stain spray! A sweet friend of mine, who feels sorry for me because I'm feeling too sick to get on the whole couponing bandwagon, picked up a bottle of it for me(for free w/ a coupon!) last week. For some reason I've never thought that stuff actually worked, but Nate busted his lip yesterday(for the 2nd day in a row!) and bled all over my children's ministry shirt. I quickly changed it, sprayed it, and let it sit over night. When I took it out of the washer just now, there was no sign of any blood! Woo Hoo! That makes me happy!

Decision Made

One thing that my mom instilled in her daughters was that having a baby is a natural thing. Pregnancy is not an illness. Our bodies were created to be able to push out a baby,etc,etc. She was a childbirth educator, labor and delivery RN, and a Doula for most of my childhood years. I remember flipcharts of uteruses and vaginas set up in the livingroom for classes. I was probably a toddler when I saw my first birth film. When I was a teenager she started her own doula service and would often recount the awesome births she experienced where the woman gave birth naturally. Then my older sister had 3 kids before I got pregnant with my first. And she had them all naturally with the deliveries being just awesome. So when it was finally my chance to have my first baby, I had all these big plans. I wanted to at least labor in the water, possibly have a waterbirth. I arranged to rent a pool from a place in Oregon to be sent to me and then set up by us in the hospital when the time came. I was going to a midwife who delivered my sister's 3rd and who I just loved. Everything was going as planned and I was so excited until my prenatal appointment at 34 weeks. My bloodpressure was elevated and my midwife felt like we should have the doctor do an ultrasound. When he did, he was alarmed to see hardly any amniotic fluid. Then they sent me to the next room to do a nonstress test to check on the baby. Tears filled my eyes and I cried as I realized things weren't looking good. This was definetely NOT in my plans. I didn't want to believe what I was hearing when they told me I needed to be on strict bedrest, laying only on my sides. One week after being on bedrest, I woke up bleeding and 2 hours later my baby was born by c-section. I had placental abruption so it was basically an emergency. Lydia was a little miracle baby. She weighed only 4 lbs 7 3/4 oz, but she was perfectly healthy! I was able to come to terms with MY plans being drastically changed for the safety of my baby, but I was bothered by the fact that the c-section would forever be an obstacle for me if I was gonna have more babies, which I was. I was determined to not have any more c-sections. So when I got pregnant with my second, I was in search of a doctor who would deliver a VBAC(vaginal birth after cesarean). We found one and Micah was born beautifully and naturally! And then Nathan's birth was even smoother. Which brings me to our big decision finally made. I'm going to get to have a homebirth! We met with a midwife on Tuesday and got to meet her nurse who attends the births as well. Since then, we've been trying to figure out how much will be covered by insurance and if this is what is best for us. Today we made the decision to go for it and I made my first appointment for next week. I am so happy to have it settled in my mind. The appointments will be at the office and then when it's that time, the nurse and the midwife will come to our house for the delivery. This is like a dream for me. I wanted to tell the full story(sorry it was sooo long!) just to show where I'm coming from and how much this means to me!

My biggest baby...

lost her first tooth on Wednesday! We realized it was loose just 1 week before that. She is still glowing! And she seems older now. Crazy!

Guess what...

Walker # 4 is on his/her way! I've been sitting here at the computer for several minutes now, trying to think of what to blog about since it's been like a bazillion months since my last post. And then it came to me, I could just share some good news. Crazy news, but good news! Scary news, but good news!

It's kinda funny to see how God works in my life. Two days before finding out this good news, I was pleading with Jayce(my youngest and newly married sis) and her husband, Matt, to please not be in a hurry to have kids. Or maybe to just not even have any at all because it is sooo stinkin hard! This was all in the middle of one of those pulling-my -hair-out, Calgon Take Me Awaaaaaay kinda days. But to be honest, I've had quite a few of those lately! And then,BAAM! I discover this good news of a fourth baby! And I'm thinkin Huh? Me? Lord, do you really think this is a good idea? Deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Ok, I don't get it, but I accept it. Ok, so maybe I'm even feeling happy and excited. And I realize, this must be a God thing, because I am experiencing peace that I know I can't produce!

A Micah Funny

Lately Micah is full of questions. He's always asking if he'll get to do certain things when he gets "bigger and bigger". So today he asks " Mommy, when I get bigger and bigger can I spank yourself?"
I asked him if he meant will he be able to spank me and he goes, "yeah, and Daddy?"
So I said, "No, but when you're a Daddy one day you'll have to spank your kids when they don't obey."
And he continued, "With your spanker?"
And I said"No, you'll buy your own spanker."
And he goes "Mommy, will you take me to the store so I can buy my own little spanker?"
I guess he thinks he's ready for the job! I'm almost 30, with 3 kids, and I still don't feel like I'm ready!!!

update

Sandy got to stop by this afternoon for a few minutes on her way to be dropped off. It was a short and sweet visit, but nice to see her and the kids(especially Lydi) were happy to see her.
She's now in a shelter temporarily til they find a placement for her. Please pray for safety, peace, and an unwillingness to give in to peer pressure.
Thanks!