Because What Mom Doesn't Like To Talk About This?

Shannon, over at (one of my favorite blogs of all time) Rocks In My Dryer, is doing this surprise meme in honor of Labor Day. Thought I'd join in...

How long were your labors?
Kid #1: 16 hours
Kid #2: 7 hours
Kid #3: 6 hours
Kid #4: 9 hours

How did you know you were in labor?
#1: Started having contractions...they got stronger...they got more regular...and hubby got me to a hospital
#2: Was in the doctor's office for an exam. She said "Oh my! You're a good 6 centimeters! Go to the hospital NOW!" I hadn't been having painful or consistent contractions. No fair, I know.
#3: Was 4 cm dilated again, just like with #2. Doc was willing to let me go for a while (new doctor), but I was nervous. Scheduled an induction.
#4: Yep...a good 5 cm again with no effort (yes, you may hate me, but only for a little while). Again, scheduled an induction to ensure I didn't deliver in the car on the way to the hospital.

Where did you deliver?
Hospital with the very best reputation for NICU care and L&D care. I'm picky that way.

Drugs?
#1: No. Bad, poor, unwise, unnecessarily painful choice! I wanted to do it as "naturally as possible". Isn't that sweet? And stupid? I pushed for almost 3 excruciating hours with that kid! At one point during labor, I started sobbing. Everyone thought it was because I was in so much pain. I was actually crying for my sweet hubby, since clearly, I was DYING and he would be without his wife or new baby. Since I was DYING. No joke.
#2: Most definitely.
#3: Yes, ma'am.
#4: I considered going natural for, oh, 4 seconds.


C-section?
No, thankfully. Although, do you think they could have done a tummy tuck while they were at it if I had? I've always wondered if I missed an opportunity there...

Who delivered?
#1: Doctor, who did such a great job of working with me through all the screeching about me dying.
#2: Hubby! Just before the baby made her appearance, the doctor turned to hubby and said, "You wanna deliver your daughter?" He gloved and gowned up, and made it down there just in time to help guide her out, get the cord off her neck, and hand her to me. It was a really incredible moment!
#3: Doctor
#4: Doctor

Go see Shannon for other Labor Day labor stories :)

They Just Don't Come Sweeter Than This...

Remember when I told you about my friend Becky having her baby? The Lord made a masterpiece in this little one...

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
Psalm 139:14

On A High

I'm still flying high after the big day yesterday. If you missed it, my friend Becky had her baby boy. He's just so incredible (sigh). I keep going over to her blog to look at his pictures!

I'm pretty sure hubby is thankful that we made our decision to be done with babies permanent. If we hadn't? I'd seriously be after him for another. Oh, just walking on that L&D floor yesterday made my ovaries do back flips! And then to see such a wondrous little baby...every fiber of my being wanted another little one of my own.

But we're done. Unless, hubby was generous to suggest, I'd like to find myself a different husband. Not a chance, he's stuck with me.

It's not that hubby doesn't love babies...our babies especially. He loves being a dad. He's involved in every part of our kids' lives, and we agree that these 4 little monkeys make our lives complete. He couldn't imagine life without any one of them.

But...last night, when we had 4 screaming kids...literally, SCREAMING, all at the same time for various reasons...he looked at me with a smile and shouted over the noise, "Still want another?!"

I got the point. We're full. Yes, I know, we're done.

But oh...my achin' fallopian tubes!

Okay, enough of that talk. I'm just gonna enjoy what I have...which is more than abundant blessings.

I'm feeling a bit overrun today with the items on my to do list. This weekend holds school clothes shopping, grocery shopping, lawn mowing, and photo editing for this family.

I'm pretty overwhelmed with all my pictures these days...pictures to take, pictures to edit, pictures to print, pictures to get to friends, pictures to put in albums, pictures to organize on my computer.

And the organizing on the computer part is getting tricky. Before I can do much more, I'm going to have to go get another hard drive and some more memory for my computer. I'm not joking! My computer is FULL. I had to delete a bunch of photos off my computer yesterday before I could transfer baby pictures to the computer (after saving to a different hard drive and various DVDs, of course). It's been made much more difficult now that I've been shooting in RAW instead of jpg...much bigger files.

Bottom line...I need a better organization system for my pictures, and I have to get it figured out NOW before I have a zillion more photos to deal with.

Wow, this is turning out to be a really, extraordinarily BORING post, isn't it?

I'll end your pain now, and close. See you this weekend for Seek The Lord Sunday, when we'll be sharing lessons learned recently. Excuse me, while I go add that to my to do list...

I Mean Really...Is There Anything Better Than A Freshly Bathed Baby?

Look at this beautiful baby boy! No snot dried or otherwise on his face. No graham crackers mashed in his hair. No glob of slobbery cheerio in his ear.

Just that fresh, soft baby smell. Impossibly soft hair and skin. Bright eyes, and a peaceful look on his face. All bundled in his jammies and ready for night-night.

Does is get any better?

Family Resemblance

Hubby and I were chatting the other day, when he said something like "It just goes so fast! I can hardly remember Sammy at Thomas' age."

It was then that I was so happy that I've been such a "picture Nazi" all these years! I have an album for each year that we've been married. Photos are in rough chronological order, and the outside of the album is labeled with the year. I know it's hard to imagine someone so crazed with photo-organization. It drives even me nuts sometimes.

This a good place for a disclaimer...since getting my DSLR, my photo organization has gone totally to the birds. I've been busy taking so dang MANY pictures, I'm just overwhelmed with the idea of sorting and printing and organizing. So they're on my computer. It gives me nightmares sometimes, and I'm not kidding. I know, I need help.

Anyway, I went to the shelf and pulled down the album for 2006 - the year that Sammy was 8 months old. Wow. What a year...for so many good and terrible reasons! I'll stick to telling you about the good for now.

It was so fun to look at my sweet Sammy's first year! Someone once told me that, "With kids the days are long, and the years are short." I couldn't say it better than that!

I pulled down a couple more albums, and scanned in pictures of Ben and Clara too. Just look at how they all resemble one another! These are my kids at 8 months old...every sweet, spunky, drooly, toothy, chubby, smiley one of them! Man I love these children. I just can't believe that God entrusted little ol' me with such precious gifts!

Clockwise from upper left: Benjamin, Clara, Thomas, Samantha

P.S. I'm sure enjoying your input on The Hair Decision Of 2008! I made an appointment for Wednesday...I hope I don't lose my nerve!

A Great Baby Shower Idea

This baby shower idea has become very popular with my group of (very fertile) girlfriends. I can't remember who gets credit for this idea...the first time I did it was as my own baby shower hosted by my sister, Tiffany. But I've done this project at countless other showers too, and it's always a hit.

Supplies: Baby onesies in a variety of sizes, "puffy" fabric paints, a little imagination (if you're short on imagination, you might want to have some children's books on hand for ideas).

Activity: At the shower, have each guest grab a "blank" tshirt or onesie, and use the paints to decorate the onesie.

As you can see from the tshirt my Thomas is wearing, you can get some pretty fun little shirts out of this project for the mommy to be. The shirts below were done by my two oldest kids when I was in the hospital having Thomas. They were so proud of their creations!

Tips:
- You might want to put a piece of waxed paper or foil on the inside of the shirt, in case the paint goes on thick and bleeds.
- Have a place available where you can lay the shirts out flat for about 24 hours while the paint dries.
- Encourage guests to put thier initials somewhere on their shirt so the mom can know who made it (or take pictures of guests with their creations).
- Have some pencils and scratch paper available for people to plan their design and maybe practice using the paints.
- Have a straight pin on hand to clear any clogs in the paints.
- If you're really feeling ambitious, you can use fabric dye to pre-color the shirts before painting for some really unique creations.
- A twist on this idea is to do a tie-dye project with the shirts (instead of painting)...I thought it was a strange idea at first, but it turned out so cute!

Design Ideas:
- Bugs: butterflies, caterpillars, lady bugs, grasshoppers
- Vehicles: trains, airplanes, cars, buses, motorcycles, backhoe, bull dozer
- Sports: baseball, basketball, football
- Symbols: stars, hearts, polka dots, smiley face, cross
- Phrases: "Daddy's Girl", "I Love Grandpa", "Jesus Loves Me", "What Smell?", etc.

The sky's the limit! Have Fun :)





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Thanks for stopping by!

The One Sling I Couldn't Live Without

When I was pregnant with Thomas, I started feeling all anxious and sentimental that he would be my last baby. I felt like maybe I would just never ever...ever...let him out of my arms since he would be, well, my last baby.

I saw a woman wearing the New Native Baby Sling in the store one day, and I knew I had to have one. It would be the perfect thing to enable me to keep my babe in my arms until he turned, oh...36 or so.

The first time I carried him in it was when he was about a week old. I had to gasp! It felt like being pregnant again. Except without the swollen ankles. Or the heartburn. Thomas spent a lot of his new-babyhood in that sling. Here he is when he was about 2 months old:



He'd get all snuggled in, and just crash. I had my hand free. I had a happy baby. And most of all, he was close to me.

Here's me steam cleaning the carpet after the dang dog...oh, never mind. The point is, see...free hands...I could get stuff done even while holding my precious babe. And even though I was still supposed to be taking it kinda easy. And even though I was still wearing nothing but maternity clothes.


And here we are two months later, so Thomas was about 4 months old. And look! I'm wearing my normal jeans! Yahoo! That reminds me...the sling is also really nice because it hangs over the waistline of your pants, thereby hiding the rubber band holding your jeans together. Just you never mind. But see? Still holding baby near, and still able to care for my 3 other little monkeys.


Here he is sitting up in the sling when he was about 6 months old. I love the adaptability of this thing...Thomas no longer wants to snuggle all day long. He wants to look around and grab and interact. He can still do that in this sling. And I can still slip him little nibbles of my ice cream. I'm worried about him after all. I mean look at him...he's practically wasting away to nothing!


Lest you think I never put him down, here's proof. It's not an excuse to show cute happy baby bottom pictures. It's not. It's NOT, I tell you! See...proof....there's the sling in the background. See? This IS a sling related picture.


And so is this one...see the sling in the upper right corner. It's a great sling. I love it. You should get one.


Oh. OK. I admit it. This is a cute happy baby rear-end picture. And no. That is NOT a lifted hospital blanket he's lying on. It just looks (a lot) like one. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.


And here we are using the sling in just the past couple of days. I don't use it quite as much as I once did because Thomas would rather be rolling around on the floor or sucking his toes. And even with the best sling on earth, your back is going to start aching while carrying around an 18 pound baby. The kid just has to get down from time to time. He HAS to, I tell you...

....or maybe not.

********************************

PS. I was in no way paid or encouraged to write this post by the folks at the New Native Baby Carrier Company. I really do love this sling just that much.

PPS. Folks from the NNBCC...if you'd like to pay me, I won't complain. I happily accept payments via RevolutionMoneyExchange.com!

Something Tells Me He Doesn't Like It!

Happy 6 Months, Baby Boy

My Dear Thomas,

You turned 6 months old just a little while ago. Do you know the joy you bring me? Do you feel my love when I tickle, nurse, snuggle, rock, and kiss you? Do you know that you were the final piece that made our little family complete? Do you know that it was the very voice of God that whispered in my ear that you were yet to be?

You are the sweetest little baby boy. You're soft and squishy and drooly. You bite my finger and scream in my ear. You smell like...yourself...part standard baby smell, part unique Thomas smell. Sometimes you smell so sweet, I could sniff your little head and neck forever. Sometimes you smell...well...not so sweet. I love you either way.

I am very thankful for you. I am honored to care for you and to help raise you to be a man for God. I am so excited to see what your life brings. Know that whatever it is, I am your biggest fan.

Love, Mommy

I Love These Toes

Meeting Cousin Milo

Isn't Milo a great name? I love it.


Cousin Milo and his parents (Hubby's brother and his wife) are here for a visit. They drove all the way up from California, and are staying with us for a few days. We're loving it! I love the change of pace during the day - not quite so lonely and boring. The kids love getting to know their little cousin.


Milo is about a month older than our Thomas. It's so fun to watch them together:

Hey, what's going on here? I thought I was the king of this carpet!?

He's about my size...where did he come from? And what does he think he's doing with my toy?

Mom? Dad? Can someone please explain this to me?

Hey- Thomas isn't looking - I think I'll just reach over here and...

Hey! That's mine! What do you think you're doing?

Oh- Busted!

Two can play that game, buddy. Let's see how you like it. No? OK then, let's just keep our hands to ourselves. By the way...why does MY mommy keep calling you 'cutie'?

We have this all worked out - we're good. But mom...if you don't stop loving on this new dude, we're going to have a problem.

Don't worry, baby boy, you're still Mama's main squeeze.

Baby Love

My neighbor friend and her baby girl came over for a visit last week. Her little one is only about a month younger than my Thomas.

Remember when these two little sweet-peas met for the first time?

We decided to try it again...put them on the floor next to each other. It was an adorable jumble of arms, legs, drool, and giggles. Aren't they sweet?

Hey, I think there's someone down here with me...

Sure enough, there she is. Hey, what do you think you're doing? Rolling my way? But I wanted to do the rolling!

Here, you put your arm there, and maybe if I put mine here...

OK, I think we're getting this figured out. Why won't these legs go where I want them to go?

You have a soft, fuzzy head too!

Hey there, pretty girl!

Come to this patch of carpet often?

I think we could be friends...you're pretty cute!

Nothin' Good For You Today

Sorry for my absence today...I'm sure y'all missed me terribly ;)

My two little ones had to get shots today...terribly traumatic! I'm thankful that Hubby was able to take the morning off of work and go with us. Sammy started whimpering and trying to get away the moment she realized that we were at the doctor's office - poor kiddo. And my little Thomas - what a sport. All smiles and giggles...until the big stick.

I'm feeling a bit neglectful, actually. My Thomas is 5 months old, and he had is 2-month shots today. To be perfectly honest, I've been procrastinating because I'm so afraid of autism! Dang media.

I talked to the doc about it though, and he reassured me that there is absolutely NO scientific correlation between immunizations and autism. He even cited some data from European countries with national health care systems...he said their data was even better than ours since they have data on nearly 100% of their population (given the national health care system and all). I guess there (maybe) is one good thing about national health care. No, I will not be voting for Hillary.

So I let them stick my babies with all kinds of scary stuff. Ahhh...what to do though? It's a statistics game, really. It's statistically more dangerous for them to not have the immunizations. Maybe it's the engineer in me...I like data. And I guess it's the Mommy in me...I cry about it anyway.

They were troopers though. Hey, here's a tip for those of you with little ones...I brought a Life Saver for Samantha. I broke pieces off for her to suck on (trying to make the thing last - shoulda brought more than one silly little Life Saver!). It really helped calm her down for the doctor to look at her, and even helped while she was getting her shots. I'm definitely going to try and remember that for next time!

I'll write more tomorrow. I'm getting in to chapter 3 of the book I've been telling you about. Although chapter 2 was pretty good, chapter 3 is looking like it'll be even more of a disaster than chapter 1. I'll elaborate more tomorrow.

Have a great night everyone.

Oh, and by the way...please...if you have a horror story about immunizations and autism...forgive me for being so insensitive as to not let you share, but please do not tell me about it! With little ones who still need regular shots, I have to be able to sleep at night!

My Theme Song...

You know the song from "The Apprentice"? It goes something like: Money, money, money, money, Moooneeey.

OK, have that tune in your head? Now all you have to do is substitute some different words, and you have my theme song. There are several variations...

"Poopy, poopy, poopy,poopy. POOOPEEEE"

"Boogie, boogie, boogie, boogie. BOOOGIEEE"

"Stinky, stinky, stinky, stinky. STIIINKEEEY"

"Whiney, whiney, whiney, whiney. WHIIINEEEY"

You can also substitute "Hungry", "Grumpy", "Sleepy", and my favorite, "Wipe Me".

I might need to call an agent to get these songs recorded. I'm sure that other mom's would relate to this brand of music!

Bath Time

I thought I'd better get some pictures of the grand kids up before the Grandparents revolt!

Thomas LOVES his bath. With four kids to bathe, bath time is an event at our house. We all gather in our master bath, where there is, mercifully, a huge tub and a shower. Ben likes to shower "like a growed-up man"...the girls like the tub. Thomas joined the girls in the tub the other day. It was fun for everyone :)

Getting ready for the bath~
I'm ready...get my cold and naked hiney in that tub!
~OOOOO
Hey, how's it goin'?~
I love my bath! I think my eyes might pop out of my head...what did you put in that bath water anyway?~
Hey Big Brother!~

Goodies For Grandparents

Thomas snuggled in bed with me this morning, and I caught him waking up on video. So sweet!

So It Turns Out...

...that Thomas is a morning person.

A VERY.

Early.

Morning.

Person.

He likes to get up and play at 5 AM, and then take his first nap of the day at 7 AM...just when the actual humans in the house have to get up.

And...

Um...

Sorry...forgot what I was going to say...on account of all the falling asleep on my feet.

Poor hubby worked yesterday from 8A to 9P, and was at the office again this morning by 7. He got even less sleep than I did.

I got nothin' interesting for you this morning. Maybe I'll perk up after a shower.

99 Balloons...

I finished my "woe is me" post and opened my email to find a link to THIS. If I ever whine again...come over to my house...somebody...anybody...and smack me upside the head, would you please?

(Click on the word "this", and then play the video you'll be brought to. Have a tissue handy.)

No Deep Thought Going On Around Here...

Hi friends! I'm feeling like a pretty lame blogger lately. It seems to have dropped pretty low on my priority list during the past couple of days. Funny how cranky kids can turn your days upside down!

Hubby's working lots and is unavailable to be his usually helpful self. Thomas is pushing his first 2 teeth through, and is not enjoying the experience one little bit (neither am I!), and Samantha is ALSO pushing two of her 2 year molars through. Poor kiddo. She keeps sticking out her tongue and saying "Owie, Mama" with a pittiful little voice. My older kids...well, I'm afraid they're just getting yelled at a lot because I'm totally exhausted from carrying the little ones around all day. I'm not exactly in the running for the "Mom of the year" award lately.

I don't mean to complain...just wanted to explain my absence as of late. I had to laugh when I opened this page and saw my own smiling face on the sidebar...I though "who is THAT?!" If Oprah is looking for a poster woman for her newly coined term "schlump-a-dinka"...now THAT I might win!

If anyone wants to turn me over to the "What Not To Wear" folks...I'll glady endure the humiliation to get a new wardrobe and makeover! Turn me over, please!

No? Well, then just send out a prayer or two for me and my little ones if you don't mind. Something tells me that would even be better...

Breast Feeding Tip: Nursing Bracelet...It Works For Me!

My advance apology to any of my male readers out there...might want to skip this one!

Any nursing moms out there?

It's especially important when you first start nursing to be sure and nurse equally from each breast to help develop a good milk supply on each side.

Whether you're a nurse-on-both-sides-for-each-feeding mom, or a nurse-on-one-side-per-feeding mom...it helps to keep track of which breast you're supposed to start with at a given feeding.

I'm on my 4th breast-fed baby, and this system works the best for me.

I made myself a simple bracelet, which I wear on the wrist that corresponds with the side I'm supposed to start with at the next feeding. When I sit down to nurse, I have the same routine each time: note the side, position baby, switch bracelet to other wrist, and ready...set...latch!

It is especially handy for those bleary-eyed middle of the night feedings. Thinking clearly is just not on my agenda for a 3 AM feeding!

Some tips for making a bracelet:
1. Use a variety of colors or a single color that matches anything...you'll be wearing the thing every day (or you could make more than one...that's an idea!)
2. Use small beads or stones. Since you'll be sleeping with it on, you'll want something that's not very bulky.
3. Use an elastic material - no clasps needed (clear elastic band type material found in the beading section at craft stores).
4. Tie it off with a square knot to ensure that it will not come loose.
5. Keep an eye on it. If it seems that part of the elastic is getting thin over time, re-string the beads on new elastic.

Give it a try...it works for me! And swing by Rocks In My Dryer for more great ideas.