Emmie’s Visitors

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Abbie

I know I tend to get wordy and since Emmie’s birth story is taking up three parts, I thought I would break it up with pictures!

Emmie was born at 9:27 in the evening, so we asked that only family visit on Tuesday and that whoever wanted to could come on Wednesday (which would help break up the boredom of the long hospital stay). That turned out to be a nice blessing. The kids met Emmie in the early afternoon on Tuesday and all the granddparents were there to love and dote on all eight of them. My parents stayed while Mark ran home to get a shower and rest. Ge and Granddaddy got lots of cuddles with Emmie and I did my best to try and catch up on sleep.

Then Wednesday rolled around and the kids visited in the morning and friends in the afternoon and evening.

That’s Aunt Tracy that came down to get snuggles and some newborn hospital pictures. Sorry it’s sideways.

M is our pastor’s wife but also a very dear friend. We are blessed to have such loving church family!

R is 30-something weeks pregnant and was our neighbor before the army decided they needed to head out to another part of the country (obviously, she hasn’t left yet but will after her first babe is here). I’ve enjoyed watching all her fun first time pregnant happenings! And she got to enjoy some Emmie cuddles.

Kristina came up to visit with Emmie. I begged her to stay until we were out of the surgery and she did but she never got a chance to cuddle with her and since she hadn’t seen her kids or husband that entire day she headed out soon after we were done. I have a feeling she’ll get lots more cuddles to make up for it this next year.

Zoe’s best friend, L, who is also Kristina’s daughter. See, how that works? I love having one of my best friends have kids that are best friends with my kids…it makes visiting with each other super awesome. L, loved holding Emmie!

J, a sweet friend who we have gotten to know through our homeschool care group. She was so sweet to bring a comfy muslin blanket for Emmie and got a couple of snuggles before Emmie ~~requested~~ demanded to eat. By the way, I never realized how awesome those little muslin blankets are. They are comfy, big and also doubles as a lightweight nursing cover.

Emmie’s Birth Story Part 1

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Abbie

So, here’s the low down. That means, for all the guys who don’t want to know the sordid details you get this: We had a baby. It was a girl. She was big. Really big. She’s healthy and we’re doing good. The end.

And for the rest of ya…here ya go:

In my 40 week update, I stated that I really wanted to go in to labor on my own. As the weekend followed that update, we saw contractions pick up, slow down and increase in intensity. But they never picked up and stayed up so we never went in. We waited.

On Sunday, May 11th, Mark and I put the kids to bed and settled down to relax before heading to bed ourselves. We had a really yummy pineapple that was just the perfect ripeness. I made a date smoothie (the only way I can swallow those things…but they were supposed to help with labor) and sat down to munch on the yummy pineapple (also supposed to help get labor going). As we were watching a video and snacking, I noticed contractions coming a bit more quickly than they had in previous nights. Not wanting to get excited about it, I didn’t mention anything to Mark and we went to bed fairly early. A good indication labor is not coming soon is if I can fall asleep. And I did. But then I woke up around 1 to use the bathroom (a bit earlier than when I would usually get up to go). I went back to bed and after two very painful and close contractions, I decided to get back up and see if anything was going to come from it. I started timing them, rocking in the glider, and after about an hour and half of them coming at 4 to 6 minutes and strong, I decided to get a shower and get ready to go in. I waited to wake up Mark and thankfully, he slept through all of my rummaging around. After I got a shower, I texted a friend and asked her to come over and watch the kids until Mark’s parents made it there. I also sent out messages to Kristina so she would be aware when she got up. I didn’t really want to wake up anyone just in case they sent me home.

After getting that in order, I got Mark up and told him it was time to go. He jumped out of bed, got a shower and got ready…quickly. By the time he was ready, we woke up Zoe and told her what was going on. She promptly went back to sleep and our friend B, curled up with her baby for an early morning of my kid watching.

On the way to the hospital the contractions stalled a tad but I do remember one really good one as Mark was talking to his parents and asking them to come on.

We got to the hospital about 3:30. Got hooked up and they started monitoring. I was checked and had not dilated any more. Still 3 cm. Still 50% effaced. Still very high. Now, Dr. J has told us time and again to contact him when we headed to the hospital. But it was so early, I didn’t really want to wake him up. I wish I had because after an hour the nurse came in and informed me that the on-call doctor (who I hadn’t seen) decided this wasn’t labor and they sent me on my merry way. The fact that I was 41 weeks, vbac, and AMA didn’t raise any flags that my doctor may want me to stay. I regretted not calling him since it was now 5:30 and I was completely exhausted.

Mark and I decided to walk around and the only safe place to do that at 5:30 in the morning is Walmart. We stopped and got breakfast first which I could only eat a few bites of. Nausea and contractions kept it from going down. Then we napped in the Walmart parking lot for 30 minutes before heading in to the store. We walked for about 30 minutes with contractions spacing themselves out. Finally, we decided to head home since I was going to see Dr. J early that morning for a regular appointment.

I was able to nap about an hour before Mark’s parents arrived and we headed out again to see Dr. J. His nurse, D, took one look at our zombie selves and knew something was up. She got excited when we told her what was going on but also seemed surprised that they sent me home. By this time, contractions were still coming but didn’t seem as strong at times. Dr. J examined me and stripped my membranes and said that I wasn’t going home again (then asked if that was okay). I wholeheartedly agreed. He also was a bit upset that they didn’t contact him at the hospital and I told him we had thought about it but didn’t want to wake him up. We were totally ready to meet Miss Emmie and I was just very tired and nauseous. He got me to 4 cm in the office and off we went to the hospital. He said he would be a long later that afternoon to break my water and start pitocin if necessary. Contractions started almost immediately and were quickly at a good intensity and every 4 to 6 minutes apart. I contacted Kristina, who was also going to be my doula, and we notified every one else that needed to know.

I labored all morning and into the afternoon with contractions staying a steady 4 to 6 minutes apart. The nurse (and one we have had for a few other births) checked me once and I was still at 4 cm. I was in a pretty positive mood because we had not started pitocin yet. My magic combo for all the other babies was once my water breaks and the pitocin is cranked up, I deliver within a couple of hours. So we waited and I maneuvered one way and then another to try and get her to come down. She was still very high.

Dr. J came in around 2 pm and broke my water. Emmie was staying well on the monitor but when he broke my water (and she was still up really high) we lost her. They worked hard to get her to come down and they sat me up to see if we could find Emmie. Dr. J and the nurse were a bit panicked that they couldn’t find her heartbeat but they relaxed when I told them that she was kicking me everywhere. He asked if we could put an internal monitor on her. Concerns were that my age (that ugly AMA word again) and that she was 41 weeks warranted a need to keep up with her heartbeat. I agreed and that was done. When he put the internal monitor on, she had already descended some but was still high. Oh, and I was still at 4 cm.

April Randomness

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Abbie

One bright sunny morning we sat outside waiting on Mark to get home from work. Ace found a magnifying glass and decided to see if he could set paper on fire (parental supervision was there). He didn’t have much luck with the paper so we later moved to dried leaves. Those definitely worked. But as Ace started to go out and experiment Josiah approached me shaking his head, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

My sewing machine decided to try and fly with the help of a child (who shall remain nameless) who had accidentally got his foot wrapped around the cord. It was dead and our amazing sewing machine place said that the cost of labor to revive it was going to cost about as much as a new machine. I did some research and decided to try a very basic combo machine that did sewing/embroidery. One trip to the farmers market with Lilla Rose and I had made enough to purchase it! Yay for Lilla Rose. So far it’s been a great machine and I’m seeking out a trip to purchase embroidery thread so that Zoe and I can play with that part of the machine. We’re looking forward to being true Southern women and monogramming everything including the kitchen sink (not really…I just think the Southern thing and monogramming are so funny).

Yeah, I’m not sure what we were doing. Funny though.

Some times family worship just knocks us out. Well, at least Bryant out.

I found this sitting on my sewing machine when I went to work. Ace made it. It’s Bob the Tomato (just in case you couldn’t figure that out). And it made me smile.

Kristina’s kids stayed with us in April whilst her and husband took a much needed weekend break. I had to snap this picture because her picky eater was eating squash (bird bites) and kept saying she liked it. Proof positive that our kids behave better for others than for us sometimes.

And then movie time brought lots of cuddles from James!

Paging Dr. Malachi!

One day Kristina’s kids needed to stay with us which continued on in to karate time. Megan decided to “participate” with Ceili Rain!

Sometimes karate just knocks us out. Well, at least Bryant out.

One of my roses. For me not having a green thumb, I find it utterly amazing that I have yet to kill a rose bush! I don’t know what these are called as I purchased it last year from a wholesale distributor seasonal sale. But they smell so good! This year, as an anniversary gift, Mark and I picked out a fragrant purple rose from an Heirloom rose site. We can’t wait to see how it grows. It’s the only one that I can remember seeing a name on and I still have to ask Mark what kind it is. It’s a royal amethyst in case anyone is wondering. I also have a white rose that I got on sale at Aldi a couple of years ago and a pink one that was inherited from Mark’s parents. This is the extent of my gardening this year. You’re welcome.

Bike riding is a lot of fun! Especially around the roundabout down the street. It’s awesome that all of our kids are riding now. Bryant & Malachi get the trailer ride while the others pedal along and I get to walk to make sure we don’t lose anyone. I can’t wait to get back on a bike and by the fall, Emmie will be able to ride along as well!

But popsicles after the bike ride…even more fun!

Project Fair 2014

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Abbie

This year’s project and performance fair was quite different in that I was the coordinator. And 38 weeks pregnant. It was very busy but not too stressful as we had an amazing team working to bring it together. I made mistakes, sure, but if I continue next year I’ve definitely learned from it.

All of the kids (even Malachi) performed “Holy, Holy, Holy” with handbells. I thought they did an amazing job. But, since all seven performed, that meant Mark was up there nudging the littles when their note came up, and I was directing (on the floor…pretty impressive to say the least) and no video could be taken. Perhaps some time later we can get a good video. I would like to be a bit more diligent in practicing so that we could go places and minister to others with them.

Here’s what the kids chose to do for their projects:

Zoe had a Little House cookbok and since the Little House series is one of her favorites still, she chose to pick several recipes out of it to share. She made hardtack, johnny cakes, apple turnovers and strawberry jam. I didn’t try the hardtack or johnny cakes but the turnovers and jam were delicious.

Ace and Liam made a volcano! Mark had fun with this one. Ace researched Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii and Liam did research on Mount St. Helen’s. Big props to Storm the Castle. If you want to find any “crafts” boy related (think trebuchet, catapult, hidden blade…you know ~~weapons~~ crafts), this site is definitely the place to go.

Josiah decided to showcase Fifi the Rabbit. We have a book on rabbits and Josiah found a lot of useful information in it, however, he can’t type and to write it all up would have taken quite a bit of time. So, two days before the fair, I realized that doing a lapbook would work much better. Professor Google to the rescue! With lapbook located and clock ticking Josiah went to work. He was very diligent and he loved showing off our rabbit. It’s a Lion’s head rabbit that friends gave us when they realized their new yard was too small to accommodate her.

Kiiii-Yaaa!

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Abbie

That’s the boys’ karate yell in case you hadn’t figured it out.

April came on with our three white belts becoming three yellow belts.

This is yet another classic case of “we forgot the real camera…oh well, our phones work just as well.” The boys have to rub their “sweat” onto their belt which is the legend behind why a black belt was a black belt.

Yellow belts are ready…

And their trainers are ready too!

March Randomness

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Abbie

I finally got around to making a clip board for the girls’ room. Very girly and holds all their clips. I just used scrap fabric and a frame found at my parents house. We had all the material we needed and didn’t have to purchase anything. I love free!

I’m throwing around the idea of making these to sell when I go to the farmers’ market with my Lilla Rose. What do ya’ll think?

Grandmere’s birthday is the first part of December. Only fitting that she received her present the first part of March. Really, I was scared to ship it. it’s a pretty bowl. On one side is a thumbprint flower from Uncle & Aunt B and their family and on the other side is a thumbprint flower from our family.

Just because. When you take Malachi’s picture he’ll say, “May I see?”

Malachi, the fashionista

Drawing shadows. Like drawing people but not as uncomfortable.

Ceili Rain, Bryant, and Malachi all love to go to karate. They also enjoy participating. Really, they are the entertainment for the parents.

Bryant came to me one afternoon and said, “Look, mama, I’m blinking.”

Why my toddler is crying…He wanted the other ranch dressing that was on the table. It was the same as what he already had on his plate.

Fourteen Years

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Abbie

Actually, eighteen years ago, this happened:

Our first date lead to this…

It doesn’t seem like we’ve been together for eighteen years, but we have. I’m so glad that Mark chose me. I could not imagine my life with any other.

One day, I’ll digitize all of our wedding pictures (a must since they are in an album that is enjoyed regularly by our crew), and I’ll tell the full story of our wedding day. I’m sure, by the pictures, you can tell it was not a very traditional wedding. But it was our wedding and for us it was an opportunity to honor God for the gift of each other. We did so with our own “unique” flair and our marriage has been defined by lots of opportunities to do things differently from that point on.

I love you, Mark. Thank you for being my everything and for putting up with me and all my crazy ideas! Let’s celebrate by hugging our babies and eating Japanese food!

Kids’ Closet

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Abbie

As I was plotting and planning how to get Emmie in to the girls room, eventually, I came to the realization that a crib, bunk beds, vanity and dresser would not fit in their room. They have the smallest bedroom with the most windows making room arrangement limited. So, we came up with several options. We could try and move the dresser in to the walk-in closet and limiting the amount of dresses and toys that could be stored in the room. We could get rid of the vanity. But, Zoe and I worked hard to revamp it and it’s just too beautiful to get rid of.

After much pinteresting (I made up a new word!). I finally decided the time had come to take the hall/seasonal closet and turn it in to a kids’ closet. At first, I was just going to get the girls’ clothes in there but then we decided to go ahead and get all seven kids dresser clothes in the same space.

And here’s where I’m so grateful that Mark is a engineer. I tell him what I want…

And he makes it happen!

He did quite a bit of planning and consulting with our pastor who is a carpenter. We were very grateful to have his input because these shelves could be hung on by our monkeys and they are not going anywhere! Each kid has two large white baskets (1.5 bushels) and then two sets of smaller drawers for personables (also called “unmentionables”). Emmie’s clothes are still in the sitting room which is now the nursery. They’ll move when she moves. I have a shelf above Zoe and Ace’s clothes that still holds the clothes we are sorting through (as well as the space on the floor). My shoe storage is now in the boys’ walk-in closet and their coats are hanging up in their rooms.

I’m thrilled with the result and the kids absolutely love it. We’re still teaching them to NOT get dressed in the closet but it’s a process and they are learning.

To the Zoo Crew

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Abbie

For Malachi’s birthday, we decided a zoo trip was in order. It had been a very long time since we ventured there and Mark and I both thought this was a great way to celebrate his birthday since he more than likely will only remember it through pictures.

Kristina and family went with us. The original plan was to go on a Friday but Friday loomed a bit dreary and very cold so we opted for a warmer and more crowded Saturday. Can’t always have it all I suppose. So, pictures were limited since we spent most of the day counting to eleven.

Yes, this only comes to ten. We knew where the eleventh one was though.

Feeding the Lorakeets.

I thinkt hat is three of our kids hanging from the rock.

I don’t think we lost anyone and we only came back home with the critters we had. Zoe and I spent lunch dreaming of doing the zip line this summer after Emmie got here and I could do silly and crazy things like that!