Caught In The Act

Here is our J-boy, caught in the act of smiling for one of the very first times. There is some debate as to whether he was smiling at my dear hubby (who does seem to get the biggest grins from him) or whether he was all excited about his yellow sunshine toy, but either way, his smile lights up our hearts!

 

 

A Girl And Her Goggles

Last week at swim lesssons, Lorelin hit a major milestone. She floated on her back all by herself for the fist time!! She has been working on floating for months, but just couldn't seem to get completly relaxed in the water. Last week the swim teacher had the idea of trying goggles to prevent the water from getting in her eyes. Sure enough, they did the trick. Lorelin got her very first ribbon at her swim schol and was SOO excited!!!! She spent the entire next day "playing" swim lessons. I dug out a pair of goggles that we had in the bottom of our swim stuff, and she instantly adored them. She hasn't taken them off since. Here she is wearing them the first day I found them.

 

She has since worn them to meals, in the van (I won't let her take them in somewhere for fear they would get lost), in the bathtub, and ALL around the house. Here she is feeding J-boy on the couch yesterday - fully equipped, of course, with her swim goggles.

 

Who knows, they might come in handy when he spits up!
Anyway, at first, the goggles were just part of her imaginary play as she "swam" around the house puffing out her cheeks to hold her breath while she moved her arms. However, yesterday, Lorelin discovered that the goggles could double as a mask as she donned a pink sparkly cape and became, in her words - SUPER LORE-LIN!!!!

 

Now she could fly in the air AND swim under the water. Very impressive, huh?
This morning she stuck a straw in the band on one side of her head and stuck the tip in her mouth. It was her "snorkel" she said, as she pretended to dive under water to discover new fish.
I LOVE this little person and her goggles too!

Monday Moments

I love my K-Bug's imagination. She can spend hours pretending with her playsets or stuffed animals. And, as any preschooler does, she likes to give her characters made-up names to relate to each other with. However, these are not your average, run-of-the-mill names like "Karen" or "Ariel" or any of the other people names that you can think of.
These names are made up of a preschool language all their own.
And they crack me up! So, for the sake of sharing with you (and for my own remembrance) I got out a bucket of beanie babies the other day and asked K-Bug about the various names for each of the animals. Here she is posing with some of the animals.

 

I wrote down the names, and had a mini-photo shoot with some of the Beanie Babies. We had a great time! I wanted to share just a few with you now:
This is GOBBER - the Brown Bear

 

This is SPAT - the bat (I like how that just rolls off of the tongue, don't you?)

 

This is BARRALAH (she prounounced it BAR-E-LAH) the Elephant....

 

To be continued....

Songs From The Dishwasher

Have you ever seen the Three Amigos where they go and find the singing bush? That movie is one of my favorite-est movies EVER!!!

And that part entirely cracks me up….

Anyway, not that it really has anything to do with what I’m about to blog about except the thought of a singing dishwasher made me think of the singing bush and well….

Such is my mind. It’s like a busy intersection of fun.

Soooo….I was whining yesterday to God about well, all sorts of things really. My dear hubby and I have been talking about selling our house (and moving to who knows where, we just know for now we’re running out of room), and we can’t seem to agree on some of the details about if we should sell, when we should sell, yada, yada, yada….

I was probably whining about other things too, but I can’t remember what. What I do remember is that whilst I was having this little grip-session to God, that I was in the kitchen cleaning up after everyone had already gone to bed.

I had just turned on the dishwasher and it was whirring away with a rhythmic

Ka-chunka-chik, Ka-chunka-chik, Ka-chunk-chik


And, all of a sudden, a song entered my head perfectly in time with the rhythm of the dishwasher.

“Rejoice in the Lord always, and I again I say rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Re-jo-ice! Re-jo-ice! And again I say rejoice!”

Now, the reason that this particular song popped in my head has everything to do with the fact that we have a new Wee Sing Bible Songs CD in the van which my girls absolutely adore right now. And, while I think that these particular recordings of these Bible songs are done in a somewhat corny way, I do love the fact that my girlies are learning new Bible songs and LOVING it.

Anyway, let’s just say that I’ve been listening to the CD a lot…..and, at that moment, God used the truth of this little Bible song to pierce me right to the heart.

This song is taken directly from Scripture, where Paul says in Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, Rejoice!” To rejoice means to be exceedingly glad, and always, well, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for interpretation, does it? It means to do it all the time.

God is always big enough to throw whatever we have at Him, and he wants to know and hear our hearts, even if we are whining, but I believe that He desires to have us rejoice in Him, even when things are tough, and we don’t understand why things aren’t going exactly the way we thought they would or should.

It is definitely a reoccurring theme in my own heart and life that I don’t want to be one who constantly complains – to others or to God. Although there are times when it’s tough, I truly want to rejoice in Him.

Lord, you know my heart, and where it needs improvement. Come to me in this place in my life and fill my heart with rejoicing. Amen.

Do You Like It?

My very, very talented friend Tracy created my new blog page for me. It reminds me of one of her beautiful scrapbook pages that she creates – only this one is on my blog for everyone to see. Tracy has also recently started putting her graphic design services at an Etsy shop under the name of

 

I am SOO proud of my Sistechick! Tell your friends (and business associates too) to head on over to Yellow Dog Creative and check it out!

Feeling Better....

I am SOO glad that it’s Monday! It feels like a fresh start to a new week. Our past week was taken up largely with illness. Lorelin’s illness spanned a couple of days, and our carpet was largely worse for the wear. My ever-generous Mom offered to get our carpets cleaned the same day that she has hers done (this past Thursday), so once again, we have clean and happy carpet.The last time our carpet cleaner had seen me was the morning before I gave birth to Joshua, so he thought is was really fun to see how big our baby was already!
My dear hubby participated in the March For Babies with Team “Great” Dane on Saturday morning. He had such a great time! A big thank you to all who supported us and our friends the Robinsons in the March. Head over to Nicole’s blog to see some pictures and hear her take on day.
We spent Saturday afternoon at the park flying the girls new kite (Lorelin had gotten it as a get-well gift), and enjoying what’s left of Phoenix’s mild spring weather.

 

 

Sunday morning was church, and then home for looong naps on Sunday afternoon. We eneded the weekend with a barbeque dinner with my parents.
I am looking forward to a much more “normal” week…
Oh, and here's a picture of Mister J-boy at seven weeks old wearing his o-so-cute organic outfit from his Aunt A and Uncle B!! He's so stylin!

 

Sleep Is....

So highly overrated…I mean, I only got about a half- hour last night, and pssshhh….I…feel…fine…

Well…Ok…so maybe I really feel like something the dog buried in the backyard and then the cat dragged in, but really, at least I’m still upright, breathing, and tryping too (albeit with a few typos…)

I was washing bottles last night at 11:30 p.m. to get ready for a night of feeding J-boy when Miss Lorelin walked into the kitchen. I was tempted to be aggravated at her because she had had already a rough time getting settled into bed that night until I took a good look at her.

She was COVERED in um….yucky spit-uppey stuff…..from head to toe.

Poor thing! I immediately threw her in the bathtub and got her some fresh PJs. Her head felt a tiny bit warm, but she seemed otherwise happy-go-lucky after her adventure. I pulled my dear hubby out of bed after I saw the mess that was the bedroom carpet and her entire bed.

Unfortunately for all for all of us, the night was just getting started. Poor Miss Lorelin spent the next four hours heaving her poor little guts out every 10 to 20 minutes. She would, of course, beg for drinks in-between. Even small sips of water came instantly back up. About this time, the “tiny bit warm” on her head turned into a fever, complete with chills.

At 3:30 a.m., after about the 15th round, we decided to take her into Good Night Pediatrics for some relief. I called my Mom, who graciously threw on a pair of jeans and accompanied Miss Lorelin and I down to the urgent care.

Turns out that she has a rather nasty ear infection, which the doctors think caused the vomiting. The doctor said that sometimes the pain and equilibrium problems caused by an ear infection can set off nausea and vomiting.
He gave her some ear drops there in the office to help numb the pain, and wrote a prescription for some antibiotics. We set off to our local 24 hr Walgreens to fill the script, and then finally home around 5:30 a.m. where I fell into bed for a full half-hour before being woken up by a feverish Lorelin, a hungry Joshua and then a cheerful little Girl-Bug (who reports that she slept “great!”)

The good news is that we haven’t seen any more yuckies making a return visit today. Lorelin has been stuffing Pedialyte Pops down her mouth at an amazing rate, and after a three and a half hour nap this afternoon, she is still running a slight fever and looking a little wrung-out, but is doing altogether better.

I have managed to catch a few small snoozies here and there, and will be praying for a MUCH quieter night tonight – for all of us….

Top Ten Thursday

 

You Might Be The Mother Of A Preschooler If…

1.Your three year old throws up on your feet, and you are not COMPLETELY grossed out (however if it was anyone else’s throw-up, I would gag and throw-up too)
2.You cherish your time on the potty because it means that you get to be alone for three minutes (unless your child sticks her fingers under the door while asking, "Mommy, what are you doing in there?)
3.You can spend an entire day wiping bottoms and noses and STILL not be completely grossed out (notice I said completely….snotty noses still get to me)
4.You find yourself eating macaroni and cheese and dino nuggets for lunch too
5.You can carry on a normal phone conversation while changing a baby, preparing lunch, and finding your two-year old’s lost dolly
6.Your idea of a shopping spree is going to Walgreen’s for some carpet cleaner while your husband watches the kids (did you know they have some cee-ute clothes at Walgreens? Seriously…)
7.You find yourself lying in bed at night with the latest Veggie Tales song floating through your head (or whatever cartoon your preschooler likes)
8.The only kind of band-aids you own have cartoon characters on them
9.The Sunday morning sermon is one of the few quiet hours you have in the week – and you end up falling asleep… (which I will admit to perhaps nodding off once or twice when my babies were all young….sorry Scott!)

ANNND…NUMBER TEN…You Might Be The Mother Of A Preschooler IF

10. Your arms are full, but your heart is even fuller of little hands giving BIG hugs and LOTS of love!

Hanging Out.....

 

Here is Mister J-boy at almost six weeks old. You have to love the chubby cheeks and oh-so-squeezable leggers...:)

Mugs & Magnets

Prologue: I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who prayed for my family during my Grandma’s illness. After several weeks in hospice care, she graduated to heaven to be with Jesus three weeks after the birth of J-boy. I was not able to go and attend the funeral, but both my brother and sister and their spouses were able to come and be with my Mom and Dad, which was a big comfort to them. My parents were gone for about a week, and came home with boxes of stuff from my Grandma’s house. The contents of those boxes are what inspired this next post.


Of all the thoughts that my Mommy brain can think at the end of a day, right now I am thinking about magnets. Refrigerator magnets, to be exact. And not just any refrigerator magnets.
These are the magnets that occupied the space on my Grandma’s refrigerator. After viewing pictures of my Grandma’s house that my Mom had taken on her first trip down to Texas, I was flooded with a host of memories about my Grandma’s kitchen.
When my Mom asked me what I might like to have of my Grandma’s to help remember her by, I asked for only three things:
1.One of her quilts
2.A plaque that she had hanging in her kitchen AND
3.Her refrigerator magnets.
If I’d been thinking, I would have asked her to bring home her mugs as well, but more about that in a minute.
As it was, yesterday I found myself with a bucket full of my Grandma’s refrigerator magnets. Many of them had been hanging in her kitchen since my early childhood.
It was then, looking through these magnets,that a few tears finally fell as I allowed myself the time and space to fully realize that I won’t see my Grandma again on this side of heaven. Such memories…
The kitchen was the very heart of my Grandma’s home, and baking for us grandkids was one of the ways she loved on us. I remember a well-stocked cookie jar, lots of juice, and even little Dixie cups with pictures on them that she would buy for us kids whenever we came to visit.
And the magnets, I remember them SO well. Quirky magnets, silly magnets, pretty magnets.
I also remember mugs of various sizes and shapes. Although these are not as vivid in my mind, I know that she had several mugs that she loved to use over and over again.
As I was putting the magnets on my fridge, I realized that I have a similar love for mugs and magnets. It is the first thing I look for on a vacation – I have mugs and magnets from Sea World, Disneyland, different states I’ve visited, and different events I’ve been to. I especially cherish mugs and magnets given to me by my family and friends (my birthday is in May….hint, hint)
My fridge DOES look a little cluttered, but my magnets tell a story of the quirky person I am……
Just like my Grandma

Random Thoughts From My Baby Brain

I’ve probably started four or five different posts, only to be sidetracked by a crying baby, a toddler who needs me to help her go potty, or to listen to my preschooler’s drama about a broken toy. I truly miss blogging (so please hang in there with me – I’ll be back) but I also miss sleeping thru the night and having a clean (ok, well, cleaner) house, both of which I don’t expect to happen again anytime in the super near future.
I’ve also discovered that I’m more of a multi-taker than I thought. Trying to make dinner, entertain and/or discipline my girlies, and rock the baby to sleep is like trying to tap dance with china plates on my head – doable but tricky.

Who knew I was so skilled at dancing?

Speaking of dancing, I’ve been dancing everywhere since discovering my new ease of movement without a nine month pregnant belly. The other night in the kitchen, I whirled and twirled my way to the music on the radio (with no audience besides my Heavenly Father) – thanking the Lord for the return of a body that can move, jump, bend, and DANCE!

Don’t think I’m whining though – I wouldn’t trade these wonderful days for the world. Soon I’ll turn around, and my tiny baby will be a big boy. I know, because my baby girls keep trying to grow up on me.

I’ll be the first to admit that the first three months of a baby’s life are tough in so many ways. And while I will be glad to have a baby that sleeps more at night and smiles and coos throughout the day, I will enjoy cuddling my tiny baby right now – I will hold him close and kiss his soft downy head and pray for his future.

The laundry will still be there tomorrow....

Monday Moments...

We gave J-boy his bath last night a little later than his usual time. Apparently a little TOO late. He was in the water for all of one minute before he drifted off into sleep right there in the water. Talk about your relaxing baths! :) Good thing Mommy and Daddy are there to keep watch (and take pictures...hee,hee!)

 

He only cried a little when I took him out too...within minutes, he was clean, dry, swaddled and off to dreamland for the night!

Family Update

So sorry I haven’t posted…life around here is busy, busy, busy…..here is an update on our cute family-o-five (note: this post is a little dated – I wrote it last week, but I decided to go ahead and print it anyway.. enjoy!)

J-Boy – He had his post-circumcision check-up today. Our pediatrician declared that he “looked good” (she was talking about her circumcision job) – so good in fact, that she joked that we ought to take a picture and frame it – she cracks me up! (Our pediatrician is originally from Nigeria, so if you can imagine her saying all of this with her big smile and thick accent, you can get an idea of why I thought it was so funny).
J-Boy will be three weeks tomorrow, and today at his appointment he weighed in at 9 lbs 8.oz. WOW! This big boy already has those adorable “rolls” on his thighs, and super chubby cheekers that I just want to kiss all the time (so I do!). His weight definitely tells the story that this boy likes to eat! As a matter of fact, being hungry is the only time that he ever really screams…the rest of the time he’s a pretty mellow-fellow. J-Boy is really giving us great nights right now – up only a few times to eat and then usually right back to sleep. He’s a true cuddler, and although getting used to a newborn again has been a BIG adjustment, we love every part of our precious boy. Here’s a picture of him with his big ol’ eyes open – taking in the world one day at a time.

 

Lorelin – She is almost fully potty-trained – hooray! I would have posted a lot more about this, except that she has really done it all herself (I’m sure that having her sissy to watch helped a lot). We weren’t going to try to potty train her for a while still, since we knew we had a newborn coming, but one day she decided she wanted to wear panties and go pee-pee in the potty, and that was pretty much that. She had a few poo-poo accidents right after J-Boy came home from the hospital, which perplexed us a little bit, until she made the comment while we were cleaning her up that “I’m being changed just like baby Joshua.” After that, her Daddy took her for some one-on-one special time to go and get ice cream at Leaps (a locally-owned custard shop), and reaffirmed that she was still our special girl – expect now she got to be a big sister too. (the picture below of Lorelin and Daddy right before their “date”) A few days later, Lorelin started showing a lot more interest in her baby brother, and now spends her days playing “This Little Piggy” with his toes, giving him cuddles and hugs, and asking for time to hold him on the couch.

 

K-Bug – K-Bug is constantly amazing me with her desire to learn (she wants to learn all of her sounds for her letters), and I delight in her very vivid imagination. She is content to spend her days creating and singing her own songs, or trying to engage her sister in playing “cow” or “horse” or “puppy” or a zoo of other animals. She loves to use hats, boots, jewelry, and dress-up clothes in all of her pretend play. Here is a picture of one of her very own hats that she created herself – it’s two buckets put together.

 

She took very quickly to her role as oldest sister to two younger siblings. She loves to sit beside J-boy and read him stories. She also loves to sing him songs, hold him in her lap, and give him lots of kisses on his “soft head”. She still leans toward the dramatic – she told me the other day after her “time-out” discipline that “My very happy heart has run away!” Don’t worry…she found it again a few minutes later!


Us – We are busy and tired, but doing well. I’ll post more about myself and my dear hubby in a later post. :

Monday Moments

 

My Boys....

 
These are my boys....and they both just melt my heart!

Happy Anniversary!

 

Yesterday marked eight wonderful years that I've been married to the love of my life. Although there have been anniversaries where I've been pregnant (and of course we've had children too) , this is a first for us with having a newborn. Needless to say, we didn't really get to go out and do anyhing just quite yet (we loved the pizza though - thanks Brand!) However, my dear hubby did surprise me about a week ago with these beautiful roses - "one for each beautiful baby you've given me" - he said. Of course I cried my little post-partum eyes out.

The night before our anniversary I was up after one of J-boy's feeds, and I wrote him this poem. For my dear hubby...I love you and happy anniversary!

Most days I am a MomGirl – a very busy Mommy of three
But tonight I am thinking back to a time when it was just you and just me…

Of a white wedding dress, and a perfect spring day,
And a man and a woman speaking vows
Of a man and a wife, starting a new life,
Christened by wedding night “wows”

Of an apartment so sweet, all 650 sqaure feet
Dinners shared by candlelight
Of working the day thru, and coming home with you
Of “cuddling” in bed together all night

How we’ve grown, how we’ve changed
Our lives rearranged – now we have three children all still quite small
Now it’s diapers and wipes, sibling rivalry and fights
But I still have the best life of all

A husband I adore, every day more and more
As we maneuver the rapids called life
Blessed by God above, I couldn’t be more in love
And happier to be called your wife

HAPPY EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY!!!!

A Labor Story

I love to hear other people’s accounts of how their own little one came into the world. Funny how each birth and can be so alike OR so different in their experience. Mine have all been very different experiences. Here is a snapshot of my experience with J-boy.
3:50 a.m. – Phone rings. I had been moved-up to a 5:00 a.m. induction time, but the hospital was calling me to tell me that they were full and I was being put on a wait list.
4:00 – 6:00 a.m. – Too much adrenaline to go back to sleep. I toss, turn, and pray waiting for the morning light, and finally drift back off to sleep.
7:30 a.m. – The girls wake up and the day starts like any other. My sister-in-law is still on stand-by to come and stay with the girls, but the morning passes without any phone calls from the hospital. My husband decides to go ahead and leaves to work his morning shift.
10:00 a.m. – The carpet cleaner comes and is surprised to find me still at home (I had told him I’d be having a baby). I play with the girls in the kitchen while he cleans all the carpets for me. Cain has been my carpet cleaner for years – he is a small business guy and a Christian too. He tells me he and his wife will be praying for us. He leaves us with clean, happy carpets.
11:30 a.m. – My Mom’s flight back to Phoenix from Texas had arrived earlier that morning, and she is home now. Hooray!! I’m so glad to see my Mom (the girls are too!) God worked it out so she could be present for J-boy’s birth.
Noon – My hubby arrives home, changes his clothes, and I start lunch for our family and my Mom
1:00 p.m. – The phone rings and it’s the hospital telling us to “come as soon as we can.” I go back to the bedroom to tell my hubby that we got the call, and it’s time to go. We’re both a bundle of excitement and nerves. My Mom will stay with the girls until my Mother-in-law can arrive to take over in a few hours.
1:30 p.m. – My dear hubby and I both grab quick showers, I put on my make-up (have to look pretty for my pictures, right? ), and we load the car with the diaper bag, my suitcase, and some pillows.
1:45 p.m. – We check in at OB triage, sign some paperwork, and are sent directly over to labor and delivery. A nice nurse shows us to our room, and proceeds to hook me up to all of my various monitors.

 

2:45 p.m. – We complete our paperwork, and the nurse starts my IV (ouch! That long needle hurts). She also tells me that I tested positive for the group beta strep, and will need to complete several rounds of antibiotics before the baby is born.
3:00 p.m. – My pitocin drip is finally started and I am also started on the first round of antibiotics. BTW, the penicillin burns like FIRE while it goes into my arm – I hold my arm and pray for it to be quickly over each time I start another round…
3:00 – 8:00 p.m. – I am dialating very slowly. My Mom shows up and my Mom, my hubby, and I all sit around talking. I am having regular contractions, but I am able to breathe and even talk through them. When I ask why it’s going so slow, they tell me that they have had to turn up the pitocin very gradually in order for me to receive all the rounds of antibiotics.
8:00p.m. – My OB comes in to break my water. She informs me that my contractions should become “very painful, very soon” and what-do-you-know……OWWWW! The contractions are suddenly very intense and only two minutes apart. I beg for my hubby’s hand, and try to squeeze his fingers completely off while trying hard not to scream out loud during the actual contractions.
8:00 – 10:00 p.m. – Some of this is a blur for me .I do remember lot of very intense pain.
-The baby’s heartbeat keeps dipping up and down, so I am rolled onto my left side into a rather uncomfortable position. My contractions hurt even worse on my side, but I’m willing do to whatever it takes to keep the baby healthy.
-I beg for an epidural and the anesthesiologist is summoned. He is a very quiet and serious looking man with a very kind bed-side manner. I HATE epidurals (but I hate the pain even more), and I actually bite my pillow while he puts it in – he was very quick and very good though. He stays for a while and my hubby and I get a chance to talk and joke with him a little bit (he had a very dry sense of humor….he was actually quite funny)
-But then something happened that I’ve only heard of happening to others before – the epidural took effect on only one side of my body. So soon I’m back to squeezing fingers and trying not to scream while I’m rolled onto my right side to try to get the epidural to numb that side of my body.
-The epidural finally takes effect on both sides. I breathe a sigh of relief…..

 

10:05 p.m. – I’ve been pain-free for about ten minutes when I’m checked and told that I am ready to push….so I guess it’s time to go…more nurses show up and get the room ready for a baby
10:15 – My OB shows up and we’re all ready to go. I’m so numb from the epidural that I can’t really feel anything, but I push the way I think I’m supposed to.
10:20 – Three pushes later, my OB informs that the head is out, but that the shoulders are stuck. A look of concern crosses her face, and I worry for the first time that day. She tells me to push once more, and as I do, she applies pressure directly on my abdomen with her body.
10:22 p.m. – Baby J-boy slides out into the world. I was pretty freaked-out, because my first look at him was of a completely purple and blue-faced baby. My OB immediately started saying, “He’s Ok, he’s Ok, he’s just bruised, he’s just bruised…”
10:23 p.m. – I hear his first cries, and I start tearing up too. I just remember saying over and over to myself, “He’s Ok, he’s ok…he’s crying.” I get hugs from my Mom, and kisses from my dear hubby.

 

10:26 p.m. – They place him in my arms for the first time, and the new adventure begins…

 

The Number Three

There’s nothing really so scary about the number three, that is, until the pregnancy test turned positive this last time….I remember all during my pregnancy, when people would ask me which baby this was for me, and I would tell them “My third” one of two things would happen.
#1 – They would tell me how wonderful it was to have three kids – and how wonderful for me that it was two girls and “now you get your boy too! Life will be so much fun!”
#2 – They would tell me something along the lines of, “When that third one came along, it was just SO much harder, things were WAY busier then with two, etc.”
And the response in my brain would go something like this –
#1 – “See, you can totally do this Stacy!” OR
#2 – “What was I thinking? I can’t do this!”
So, here I am. An official Mommy to three wonderful children – all under the age of five.
And how I am coping? Hard to tell, a week into this adventure, but I will tell you a few things I DO know….I’ve already had many moments that were just like the two scenarios above – lots of fun and firsts AND some tears and moments of feeling completely overwhelmed.
I also know that when Joshua came out, I instantly could not imagine our family without him. He is a miracle and I fell instantly in love.
I also know that during my first day alone (more on that in a later post), I could count the minutes I had to myself in VERY small increments, and had the feeling that my time in the months ahead would be consumed with meeting the immediate needs of my young children. So, where I am going with all of this? I’m not sure….
I just know that the adventure ahead has been given to me by my Heavenly Father, and He has promised to be with me every step of the way (even at 1:00 a.m. feedings! - and you my bloggity friends get to come along on the ride!
Thank you Father, for the number three.

BABY JOSHUA IS HERE!

Joshua Alexander Smith made his entrance into the world on leap year - Friday, February 29th at 10:22 p.m. He weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz and was 20 inches long.

Yup - this boy is big. I ended up being induced around 3:00 p.m. on Friday, and after a lot of labor, Joshua came with five minutes of pushing. There was a push or two where his shoulders got stuck and my OB informs me we were "this close" to an emergency C-section. Praise God though, one more mighty push and Joshua came out - albeit with a LOT of bruising on his poor little face (they told me he came down really fast and hit his nose/face on my pelvic bone).

We are all home now and Joshua is doing well. The girls are super excited about their baby "brudder" (as Lauren calls him). We are moving slow (and I'm a little sore..) but we are just so thankful for all of God's blessings in getting our son here safely!

We'll send more pictures and updates in the days ahead!

 

 

 

 

Pregnacny Randomness

1. My son might be born on leap year. This was slightly distressing for me for about a millisecond before I thought, “That would be really neat!” Thanks for the encouraging comment from Kim about her own leap year baby.  My dear hubby says he knew a few leap year kids when he was in elementary school and he thought it was SOOO cool that they were born on leap year. So, there you go, my son is cool even before he is born! :)
2.My Mom WILL be back in town on Friday morning, so should be around before or after the baby arrives. Yeah! My Dad will stay on with my Grandma, who is not doing well, but continues to hang on.
3.They have moved me to an earlier time on Friday to deliver, but I am not revealing it here, because there is a good possibility that they will push me back again, so we’ll just have to see if little Joshua WILL be a leap year baby or not!
4.My To-Do list is almost done. I actually even have the carpet cleaner coming tomorrow, so besides getting the taxes done (which means ugh…we still have to do them…) I think we got everything completed. Whew! It’s been work!
5.Here are a few pics of Joshua’s room. I still have colored letters to hang on the walls and a blanket and some pictures to hang, so I’ll post it again when the room is REALLY all done, but at least you can get an idea.

 

 

 

6.One more day of being pregnant – I’ve become SO used to this little guy moving inside me at all times of the day and night. I’ve even become used to the size of my belly and how to walk, etc… is it really only ONE more day?
7.I am starting to feel a cross between excitement about his coming and wondering if I can handle it all….I love my girlies SO much and I have struggled even these last few weeks with feeling like I am spending enough time just loving on them. As a matter of fact, I think I am going to finish up this post and go cuddle on the couch with them while we watch Curious George. One of my last times as a Mom of two

COUNTING ON YOUR PRAYERS AND LOVING YOUR SUPPORT!
Stacy