Friday, December 24, 2010

ITS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME

Michael had his party/program at school on Wednesday morning.  They sang some songs, handed out home-made gifts, shared snacks.  Only one shot on the phone..but it was very cute, a nice little celebration.  I could actually hear Michael singing the songs and he was very excited answering questions..big difference from last year.  :)  Several of the teachers and aides came up to me to tell me about the marked improvement they've seen in Michael

...what a nice present :)

Monday, December 20, 2010

REWIND TO THANKSGIVING

 Here it is Christmas week and I'm getting around to Thanksgiving pictures.  So be it.
Travis and I came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving afternoon..so we had our "traditional" Thanksgiving meal/celebration on Friday.  
Compliments of Mike and his helpers.
Carina peeling potatoes,
Rian loading the muffin tray,
 Michael mixing the muffins.
 They also did a few little crafts with Daddy..
Notice their headgear and little turkey cups.


 Check out that mug shot!
:)
Thankful for each one.

2ND TIME..

 ..ever getting a "professional" haircut.
Carina has very thin hair and it was getting loooong...
so we thought a haircut was in order to clean it up and hopefully add some thickness as it grows back.
Mike took her to the shop with Michael.
 Sitting like a champ.
 WOW!!!!!
 Doesn't she look cute??
 She looks like a different girl!

Friday, December 17, 2010

A FEW MINUTES IN THE MORNING

 Travis Robert..a few minutes after birth.

So, his story is a bit different.
Though I guess each kid has their own unique story-Michael because he was the first, Carina because she was born on the floor, Rian because it was super-fast and we barely made the hospital...and now Travis.
 As Due Date drew continually nearer, we were increasingly nervous about getting to the hospital on time, given the previous 2 births.  I voiced these concerns to the midwives several times--towards the end there, I think I finally got through.  Either that or they just were sick of hearing it and decided to humor me.  :)  
We could hardly believe it when Travis decided that he wanted to be "late." After having 2 right to the due date and 1 early--it was tough. 
So, it was a Monday night when I had my last appointment with the midwives.  The weekend had been quite uncomfortable--not necessarily contractions, but sharp pressure and extreme achy-ness...
And it was Thanksgiving week.  
Mike's 10 year reunion was scheduled for the weekend and of course Thanksgiving was on Thursday--no one wants to "work" a holiday.  We went in Monday evening, Mike had stayed home from work that day--we were 5 days late at this point--thinking it could be any second and if history repeated itself, he would never make it home or to the hospital on time for the delivery.  Anyway, he was home.  We dropped the kids off at my parents since it was near dinner time and who knows how long the appointment was going to take.
(Good thing we did)
I got an exam and Lisa (the midwife) gave me a few options--after finally hearing my concerns about having a quick birth experience.  We decided to go walk around for awhile and see if anything "happened."  Lisa gave me her cell and said she would be in the office till 8pm if we wanted to come back or made some decisions (go in for a dose of castor oil, wait it out..etc.).
We walked around for about an hour and a half
and this point I was having pretty good contractions--fairly strong and close together.  At 8pm, we went back to the office with the premise--if nothing has changed we'll go home and wait it out, if something has changed, we'll go to the hospital.  
Well, there was progress.
(I had already started dilating a few weeks earlier)
After a quick dinner, we check into the hospital.
I was monitored and what not--
we said we'd wait and see what happened overnight
(with the contractions I'd been having walking around, we didn't expect to last the night)
Turns out--Mr. Travis is a stubborn boy.
Once I fell asleep, contractions lessened greatly.
To make a long story "short," in the morning Lisa came in and again we went over some options--I was definitely NOT in labor, though still experiencing some contractions.  She ended up breaking my water around 9am--and from there we let "nature run its course."
Nothing happened for 3 hours--we walked around the hospital, tried to nap--the waiting around was just torturous with nothing going on --but I really did not want meds
12pm--I guess my body finally realized the water broke and I went into labor and once that got underway, it was just as fast as the girls.
1 hour 47 minutes.
We did a water birth this time around.
I'll tell you about that another time.

Travis arrived at 1:47pm
While the waiting around was very tedious, 
I'm glad we were at the hospital. 
The hospital staff was great and birthing with a midwife was a totally different experience.
Again, I'll tell you about that another time.

 Less than a day old.

We went  home Thanksgiving afternoon--
here are some shots of the kids holding their little brother.

 Carina was so cute, she did NOT want to let him go.
Mike said her turn was up, it was time to let Rian hold him and she just snuggled him closer...


 Travis looks nearly as big as Rian here...
She treats him kind of like a doll--always wanting to touch him or 
put a blanket on him, give him kisses.  Very cute.
No real jealousy issues with anyone.
Though at times, if Rian wants me to do something--she'll look at me and point to Travis' seat--and say "baby, seat!"


 A quick nap with Daddy
 He is a big boy, already over 10 pounds and not even a month old yet.  He started sleeping through the night at 9 days old.  And eats like a champ.  He does not like a pacifier and will only take it on occasion--much to my chagrin--he thinks he has a human pacifier.  
: /
Can't wait till these smiles are "real" smiles!
Anyway, I think my few minutes in the morning are just about up.
I heard a little voice calling from her crib.

Stay tuned.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Thursday, November 25, 2010

THANKSGIVING

 An extra special reason to give thanks...

 He's here!
Travis Robert was born on 11-23
at 1:47pm weighing in at an even 9lbs
and measuring 21 inches long.

We came home from the hospital this afternoon, making it a different and quiet Thanksgiving..but a Thanks-giving nonetheless.
We wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving.

More pictures and the "story" to follow.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

TAKE A LISTEN..



Paul Washer..quite a powerful and blunt speaker. Take a listen when you have a few minutes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARINA

Carina turned 3 on 11/12...
We had her family party on 10/29 because we didn't
(and still don't) know when Baby Cam was going to make an appearance.
I do have pictures, but no way of getting them on here right now.
I'm glad we had the party when we did, because for her birthday and the week following, we (especially me) were all sick.

These pictures are from her actual birthday night.
As you can see, she was quite excited.
It was cute.
Her phrase when opening presents was, "I can't believe it!!"


 We had a spread for her party
but brownies (a favorite with all the kids) on her birthday

The one thing she specifically asked for--the ONLY thing
she specifically asked for when asked what she wanted for her birthday, was a monkey.
She got three from different people.
She is very much "into" princesses right now..so she also got
some princesses to play with.
Happy 3rd birthday, Rena bean!!

(I'm glad you don't have to share it)

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

OPENING DAY

 This past Saturday was opening day for pheasant..and Heidi's first time out in the field. 
While they didn't get any birds,
from what I heard Heidi did okay.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

RAINY DAY

 A game of Memory on a rainy afternoon..while little miss is napping.
Its a match!
So nice when everyone plays together happily.

Monday, October 25, 2010

18 months

Rian is 18 months today.  I'm happy to announce that she is finally outgrowing 12 month clothing.  Love the way she holds the pencil :) (Almost time to take away that "ba" aka pacifier).

Friday, October 22, 2010

THE WAITING GAME

We're at the point where we are just....waiting.

Baby Cam (see previous posts for name explanation) is due in less than a month. We're down to (or is it up to?) weekly doctor visits..trying to get all the last minute stuff ready and make some food to freeze--today I have homemade applesauce (round 2) and quiche in the works.

Side note, its kind of hard to freeze food when there is no freezer space.  We got a *new*-hand-me-down fridge (newer than our previous one) that has the side-by-side freezer and fridge and it really does not seem to hold much.  (So if anyone is or knows anyone who is getting rid of a freezer that is in working condition and not 50 years old--let us know!) Lest you think I sound ungrateful, let me correct you.  We're very thankful for this appliance, its a million times nicer than what we had!! 

Anyway, I digress. 

So, we're waiting for baby.  I think the older kids are getting excited, Michael has made several comments lately that begin with, "when the baby comes out" and Carina told me today that "the baby will pop out soon." 

We have a couple of things left that I really want to get done--ya know, putting the car seat in the car (actually it WAS in the car and then someone accidentally shut the cat in the car overnight(!!) and the entire car had to be cleaned and de-odorized), getting the bassinet cleaned and set up..I really want to clean the tub..but at the same time..I REALLY don't want to clean the tub.  Ya know?  Leaning over to give baths gets to be painful at this point..and a few other little odds and ends.

Get this--the midwives I'm seeing--well, they're starting their own practice and I just made the cut-off for delivery.  So after this baby comes, I'll probably be "shopping around" for someplace else to go, even for regular visits.  I thought we were done with that the last go around.  I won't really be "sad" to find somewhere else though.  While the midwives seem nice enough, I'm not fond of some of the office staff and they are rarely on time--one of my visits was scheduled for 9am--I didn't get in room till 10am.  While that was extreme, it is a common occurrence to be 20 minutes or more late.  Not good when I'm on a schedule where I have to meet a bus. 

Still can't get my camera hooked up to this computer--but being that the one memory card worked, there is either a problem with the cable that I have or Mike said it is possible that I might need an adapter for the type of card that I have in this camera.  Looks like for now, we're having to stick with cell phone pictures.  : /

So this has turned out to be quite a random post..again, just waiting.

At this point, sticking close to home as much as possible.  Unless this baby/labor process is completely different, it could be quite an adventure.  For those of you wondering what that means--Miss Rian was born in an hour.  I had pains around 12am, we left home and she was born at 1:08am..we got to the hospital with 13 minutes to spare.  And they say that with each subsequent birth, the time cuts down..

Keep us in your prayers as the time draws nearer..

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

CLASS TRIP

Last week Friday, Michael's class took a class trip,
compliments of the Board of Ed.
We went over to Race's Farm to pick pumpkins and apples..
Since it was the day after our anniversary, 
Daddy surprised us with a day off and came too!!


 On the wagon, ready to go!!

  
At the pumpkin patch..
searching for that perfect pumpkin





 No one wanted to let go of their pumpkin

 Time for apples!!
These apples (I forget what kind) where huge!!!
Nearly the size of Rian's head!!




Enjoying a treat off the tree..
It was a nice day and nice to do an outing as a family.
More pictures, but inaccessible at this time.