February catch-up

It seems that every time I sit down to type up a blog post I get sidetracked trying to catch-up on all the other blogs I like to read that I have neglected over the past month. And then, just when I feel caught up and ready to type my own post, someone needs me and I close the computer. So goes life these days. :) We are loving our sweet new addition. It is really hard for me to remember life without Isaac. Maybe those are my post-pregnancy hormones making me sentimental and cliche or my lack of sleep making my memory foggy. Probably a combination of the two. Regardless, Isaac has filled our home with more joy, smiles, and laughter and we are so grateful to have him join this family.

Isaac is now one month old and proving himself to be an easy going baby much like our other two. We are loosely following the Babywise schedule like we did with Eli and Hailey and he has taken to it like a champ. He is consistently taking 2 hr. naps in his crib during the day which frees me up to spend time with the other two kids and maintain the house. He is going 4-5 hrs. at night between feeds. While I know this method does not work for everyone, it has made our kids so happy as infants because they are well rested and the eat-play-sleep cycle seems so natural to them. The effects of establishing good sleep patterns early on have carried into their toddler years as well. Eli and Hailey rarely protest going down for nap or bed when it is time. Hailey actually put herself down for a nap the other day when I was nursing Isaac! She had finished her lunch and asked me if it was nap time. When I told her "yes" she went to the potty and then went and got into her bed. By the time I was free to check on her, she was already asleep. :)

Life with three kids under four has not been much different than having only two. Eli and Hailey are at a very busy stage so Isaac doesn't put much more demand on the pace we already had going. I'm sure things will change once he doesn't sleep all the time. :) The biggest struggle for me is trying to figure in the tasks like cooking, cleaning, and laundry. I used to tackle these things each day while the kids slept, but now all I do is sleep as well when the kids are down. :) I'm not sure where my blood counts are, but I know I am still anemic and certainly not getting a full night of rest. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, the fatigue will subside and I will get a bit of a routine again. For now my "to do" list keeps growing and I am TOTALLY ok with that. I am just enjoying where God has me right now and trying to be faithful to the things he has given me.

I do hope to backtrack a few posts in the next few days and catch up on some pictures and memories that we made in this first month with Isaac, but for now, I will throw in a few random pictures from our life lately.

 Eli made a George Washington wig at school during President's Week. We thought this was hilarious!

One month of age for our kids always means baby acne and hair loss :)

 Trying to get that head up during tummy time.

Hailey is really doing great with Isaac. She loves holding him and helping me change diapers.

 Eli loves doctoring all his stuffed animals.

 Still our one and only princess. :)

Winter Fun!

I am not a fan of cold weather. I'm told this winter has been relatively mild, but I am very eager for some spring temperatures that will allow us to escape the indoors. However, it was nice to get in one pretty snow before Spring arrives in a few weeks! I had found the kids some snow gear after Christmas that they were very eager to put to some use. I bought the snow bibs and boots a few sizes too big so they should carry us through next year as well.

Poor Hailey is just too short for Eli's arm embrace. He does this choke hold move every time I ask him to put his arm around her in pictures. Too funny!

Snow castle???

I'm glad Marc volunteered to be the one in the snow!

This look says trouble to me. ;)

I love the joy I get to see in our kids as they experience life.

It was a fun snow day...but I hope warmer days are ahead!

Happy Valentine's Day

Don't you love a good excuse to make some iced sugar cookies??? The kids enjoyed helping me out this year to make some holiday cookies for Valentine's Day. I love that each year they become more capable of participating in certain activities with me like baking. Eli did so well rolling the dough. I have to catch myself trying to help too much! They are often able to do more than I give them credit for. :)

(These pics came off my phone hence the quality of some.)

This year Eli was able to celebrate Valentine's Day at school because it fell on a day that he attends. He had so much fun decorating his valentine box and putting together his Cars valentines with Smarties attached (his favorite candy). He came home with a box full of goodies! We had our own little bag of treats for each of the kids that they opened before Eli headed off to school. My mom and dad had sent some surprises as well which they enjoyed.

Marc surprised me with a much needed gift on Valentine's Day! I was in Isaac's room after lunch putting him down for a nap when Marc walked in unannounced with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He told me he had taken some time off from work to come home and clean up the house and do the laundry so I could take a NAP! What a treat. :) Hailey was already asleep so I laid down and took a 2 hr. uninterrupted nap.  When I woke up the kitchen was spotless and he had 3 loads of laundry folded and put away. He is such a tremendous blessing to me. I hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day celebrating those that you love!

First Week Home

We have had so much fun welcoming this new little one home and enjoying time with our family that is in town. The grandparents have been so helpful with the bigger kids. Eli and Hailey have loved the extra attention and it has freed me up some to get adjusted to having Isaac around and figuring out how he likes things done.

Eli and Hailey were very eager to introduce Isaac to all the baby toys in his room. He was so excited about it as you can tell. ;)

 Trying out the "woombie." This is a new kind of swaddle since we had our last two and it works pretty well keeping those little arms in snug and secure.

Marc's parents live close enough that they can drive over for short visits. Marc's mom and sister came by to check on us the day after we got home and to fill our fridge with some good food.

We came home from the hospital the day before Super Bowl Sunday so that was of course our first major event. We ordered some Papa Murphy's pizza and had a cookie cake made in honor of Isaac's birth day.

Sleeping through all the fun!

Am I really the mommy to 3 now?!?

The other big event after arriving home with a new baby is the FIRST bath! Marc has always been so good about recording major milestones with our kids and it is fun to have each of their first baths on video. Eli and Hailey laugh so much when we show them videos from when they were babies. Such great treasures to have. I'll be sure and show their friends their first bath video someday. I'm sure it will still be just as funny then. ;)

 Isaac was not so sure about it all.

A few foam toys and a hand to suck on make everything better

My mom found these cute bracelets for Eli and Hailey. They loved wearing them all weekend. They are very proud of their new titles!

Since Marc had to head back to work a few days after we came home, my mom stayed for the first week to help out around the house and keep Eli and Hailey entertained while I was busy caring for Isaac and catching up on some sleep (Thanks mom!). Eli still went to preschool for two days that week which he enjoyed and Hailey got pampered on a shopping trip to the mall with my mom. Then, one week after Isaac was born I was on my own! I had no expectations of how the day should go so we just watched a movie in the morning, enjoyed some popcorn, and stayed in our PJs all day long. It was a perfect day and it felt so good to spend some time with all three of my sweet babies together. Marc came early that day so we could take the kids to get some pictures made.

Sweet times! Thanks to all our family and friends who have helped us celebrate Isaac and transition to being a family of five. There are lots of fun days ahead of us.

Isaac's Birth Story

This is Isaac's birth story. If you are not interested in the details (mostly rated PG, I think) of childbirth then probably just scroll to the bottom to look at the pictures (rated G). :) And if you enjoy birth stories then you can read or re-read Hailey's story here.

It is hard to believe that less than two weeks ago I was wondering exactly how Isaac's delivery would turn out. Now we know! This pregnancy had been my longest, much to my surprise. I had so many episodes of false labor with this pregnancy that I quit counting. I certainly quit trying to predict the day he would arrive because the days were coming and going as quickly as I could pick them. It was physically and emotionally tiring, but I knew God had a plan in it all and was fully trusting in His timing for Isaac's birth whenever it might be.

One really amazing occurrence in all this was how well my Bible Study Fellowship class on Genesis lined up with this pregnancy. A few weeks before my due date we read and studied about the covenant God had made with Abraham to bless him with a son. Then, we saw how Abraham and Sarah became impatient in the wait and resorted to their own measures to grow their family (which did not turn out well and was certainly a lesson to me in my own impatience around this time). Finally, God fulfilled his promise and Isaac was born. I had no idea when we picked Isaac's name last Fall that I would be reading the story of the biblical Isaac's birth just a few days before our Isaac would be born. It will be something I will never forget.

On January 30th, Marc and I sat down on the couch after the kids were in bed to watch Twilight since he had never seen it. I ended up timing contractions through most of the movie. They started out every 4-6 min. for the first hour, but then faded out to every 8-10 minutes by the time we went to bed and were certainly not painful. I had decided it was another false alarm.

Throughout the night, I had a contraction that was strong enough to wake me about every hour, but then I would doze back to sleep. Finally, at 5:30 a.m. I decided I was tired of wrestling sleep and pulled out my phone to catch up on Facebook. While laying in bed on my phone at 5:45 a.m., my water broke. I woke up Marc who jumped out of bed faster than I have ever seen. He immediately got busy making phone calls to our parents and packing the car while I got a quick shower. My contractions were really beginning to pick up at that point and I knew that we were going to have a baby that day! Marc's parents drove over from Bloomington (45 min. drive) to watch our still sleeping kids so we could head to the hospital. When they arrived to our house, Marc was still loading our things and I was putting on some make-up while eating breakfast (through contractions at least). I think our "calm" state made them a little nervous and they kept trying to hurry us out the door so we didn't have a baby on the way to the hospital. :)

We eventually left the house around 6:45 a.m. and headed to the hospital which is a quick drive from the house. The contractions were close and painful by the time we arrived. However, being slightly stubborn, I decided I didn't need a wheelchair as Marc had suggested. So, we parked in the parking garage and set out on the 0.25 mile walk to the ER. Had I known how cold it was outside, I probably would have opted for the front door service. ;)

By 7:15 a.m. we were on the OB floor getting checked in and the nurse told me I was 5 cm dilated. This was exactly how far along I was with Eli when I arrived to the hospital in labor in 2009 and that labor was fast. So, I knew Isaac would be on the scene before we knew it. Our room wasn't ready so we waited for what seemed like forever. My bed in the triage room was backed up into a corner making it very difficult for Marc to help coach me through contractions. The contractions were right on top of each other and I remember telling Marc I didn't think I could do a natural childbirth this time. It was just too much. Then, the nurse came back and told us the room was ready and we were moved to a room. At this point, I knew I was going to get an epidural. I was rechecked and was 6-7 cm but didn't think I could go another few hours. By this time, our OB group's midwife had arrived and wanted me to hold off on the epidural until she rechecked me. Amazingly, I was already complete at 10 cm. Isaac was born just 3 or 4 contractions later at 8:26 a.m., just over an hour after we checked in. In the end, I am really thankful I didn't get the epidural. There is no experience like giving birth, and I love being 100% involved in that process and seeing how the body works. It is a miracle indeed.

After Isaac was born, everything seemed great for the first 10 minutes. But then after the placenta was removed, the uterine bleeding would NOT stop. I ended up with a severe postpartum hemorrhage. My hemoglobin was 12 when we arrived and dropped down to 6.4 after delivery. Through it all I realized that I am thankful for modern medicine, a calm and collected husband, and a gracious God who was with us through the entire thing. The experience made me think of all the women who bleed to death after childbirth in other parts of the world because they don't have access to the care that I received. We are so fortunate to have what we have and we take it for granted all the time. It is good to have reminders of this.

Well, without further ado. The pictures of the day...