Wuv, True wuv

The Little Man & The Baby Man (aka 'The Biscuit'  )

Blessings.

Rejoice

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart

I will enter His courts with praise

I will say this is the day that the Lord hath made

I will rejoice for He hath made me glad

Today is a beautiful, sunshiny day both outside & in my heart. My sister called today.

I am estranged from my family & have not spoken to most of them in several years. At Christmas I received a card from my sister. I wrote her back. Last week I got a birthday card & this morning she phoned. We talked for close to an hour. Probably would have talked longer but the battery on my phone was dying . But it was so good to talk with her. We talked mostly about our children ( go figure). She has 5 boys & a girl & I have 4 boys &  a girl. Our first born are only 4 days apart. I have really missed my sister. I am hopeful that this is a fresh start for us. I am just so happy she called.

Blessings.

Calf!

Life is busting out all over the homestead! We have a new member to the barnyard:

Just minutes old.

 

And the best  news of all? Drumroll please....................................................

She's a heifer!

Welcome our new milk cow to the world

Blessings.

Happy Birthday to me

Today is my birthday. I am 41 years old today . How did that happen? I have spent the last year trying to adjust to being 40 & now I am 41. Sigh. Age is relentless .

I do have encouraging news tho, as of this morning I have lost 20 lbs of my pregnancy weight! I only wish the next 30 would come off as easily. But if experience tells me anything, I have a long row to hoe in front of me. After the Little Man it took me a year to lose all the weight. This time I am aiming for 6 months. I want to be 'me' again by summer. We'll see......

My oldest son called me yesterday. He had read my birth story & I guess it was too much for him. He thought I should have put a stronger warning on it .  I asked him what he was doing reading a birth story in the first place--he's a GUY!

The Baby Man is adjusting well. He nurses like a champ & seems to be thriving. We are a little paranoid this time because the Little Man had a really rough start. He had to be hospitalized with severe jaundice & he failed to thrive. He just wanted to sleep, he wouldn't nurse so he was losing weight. It was a rocky first few weeks. So we park Baby Man's bassinet in the sun every morning to help keep jaundice at bay, we weigh him every morning & rejoice in every dirty diaper.  So far he's doing great.

Here's a few pics to share

Brothers.

He's not the sister she wanted but she'll keep him

Taken this morning

The pretty bouquet from our church.

Blessings.

Noah's Birth Story

Here is our birth story. Warning to readers: T. M. I.

I woke up at 4 am Wednesday January 14th, with moderate contractions. I used the bathroom and had bloody show so I was pretty sure this was it. I drank some cayenne pepper in warm water as I had been advised that would help prevent excessive bleeding. That was a HOT cup of water! I also got online to ask for prayer.
Then I went back to bed to try to get what rest I could. About 7 things were getting pretty uncomfortable. My husband was up & built a fire as the house was COLD & I moved out to the couch. The kids were up by then & we told them I was in labor. My 12 year old son reacted with a kind of awed disgust "You're in labor? EEEwwwww" My 9 yr old daughter was just beyond excited & wanted to discuss every detail. Unfortunatly, I was a little beyond casual conversation at this point. My 2 year old just wanted to sit in my lap. Ouch.

Time was a blur for me at this point so my timeline may be off some. About 8 we took all the blankets off the bed & set up the plastic sheet & put an older blanket back on. I labored on the bed for a while until I felt like I wanted to get in the tub. Contractions were really intense by now & I was having a hard time staying relaxed. I used the bathroom before getting into the tub & right as I sat down my water broke. It kind of popped & gushed & then I could feel the baby's head move down & seal it off.

I got in the tub & it felt so good. We didn't have a "birthing tub" but were just using the bathtub. My husband took off the shower doors so he could actually reach me. The water felt so good at this point. My contractions were coming hard & fast & the only thing getting me thru was prayer. Although at this point my prayers pretty much consisted of me just repeating "please Jesus" over & over & over.

It felt like I was in the tub for hours but in reality it was less than 2 hours. After maybe an hour I starting pushing little 'fake' pushes as the contractions peaked because they hurt so bad. Pushing was giving me some relief. But I hadn't had that uncontrollable "I have to push NOW" feeling that I had with my other babies so I was a little leery that maybe it wasn't time yet. After maybe 20 minutes of the 'fake' pushing I decided to try a "real" push. One huge push & the head was out. Two more & I felt his little body wriggle out & shoot across the tub.

My husband pulled him out & handed him to me. I was first to know he was a boy. He was pretty snuffly & bubbly so my husband spent a few minutes suctioning him & wiping him off. We kept him in the warm tub for a few minutes waiting for the cord to stop pulsing. He nursed a little bit until we were ready to cut the cord. Once he was 'free' my husband wrapped him up & took him to show the kids. After maybe 15 or 20 minutes I pushed out the placenta. I just squatted over a dish pan & it was really easy. My husband helped me get up & dressed & then we moved in to the bedroom & just got to enjoy being a family. It was so awesome to be at home, not to be poked & prodded & picked at. And it was so amazingly special that it was just me & my husband.

I want to give the disclaimer that we did not enter into this lightly. We tried & tried to find a midwife right up until last week. We read all we could & had our supplies ready. We also talked about what we both expected, what we would do "if", what the plan was if we needed help, we tried to be ready for anything. And we prayed. We prayed that we would do the Lord's will. We prayed for an uncomplicated delivery. We prayed for skill & discernment. We prayed for a healthy baby. We prayed a lot.

The labor was much harder than I expected. I really didn't think I would make it thru! I had read all these books & hundreds of birth stories & convinced myself that I would have an easy labor & breeze right thru--NOT! I was able to stay calm & really focused but it was not easy! I told my husband several times I couldn't do it! He just kept encouraging me & reminded me it would hurt at the hospital just as much as at home! The Lord blessed us with an uncomplicated delivery & a healthy baby & we are truly thankful.

From start to finish I had 7 hours of labor. Our Noah Jordan came into this world at 10:55am weighing 9lbs6oz & we are blessed.

Thank you all for the congratulations & kind comments!

Blessings.

A Boy!!!!!

The newest member of our family joined us at 10:55 this morning .

Blessings!

Trojan Horses?

My poor computer. I finally got it back today. It got this hideous virus, was linking to all these nasty sites & was totally not usable. My husband worked on it & got a whole bunch of junk off of it but wasn't able to fix it. So we took it to "Larry the computer guy" & he fixed it! yay! It had 35 nasty trojan horse virus-thingys (very technical term) on it.

What really makes me mad? We had all this anit-virus stuff set up & these viruses TURNED it off. I still do not understand how that happened. But I am happy to have it back. I was 'borrowing' my son's computer & it is totally different from mine. And let's just say, I don't do change very well.

Plus, it had none of my links. None of my favorites. I had the hardest time finding anything. I am sooo glad to have mine back. My husband keeps threatening to buy me a new one . Now, to some of you that would be a fabulous thing. Not to me. It just means I wouldn't know how to do anything anymore. I am perfectly happy with my current computer. Even if it is almost obsolete. Computers, cars & cell phones. These must remain constant. Change is bad.

Blessings.

Easy Jean skirt

 

This is the skirt I made for my daughter out of an old pair of my husbands jeans. It was super easy. It took maybe an hour from start to finish.

I cut the legs off the jeans & cut the heavy seam from the legs & the cuffs. Then I took those  pieces & sewed them together. I made a casing at the waist & added elastic & then hemmed it. I added the lace trim & voila! it was finished. She loves it by the way .

Nothing fancy but a nice play skirt & since it was completely FREE you have to love it. I am thinking about adding some back pockets just for fun but not sure yet....

And, just for fun, here is her goofy little brother getting in on the action...

Blessings.

Pig Sty....

My children are, shall we say, less than neat. As such I am frequently telling them to "clean up your pig sty." The less than stellar consequence of this is that now the Little Man thinks "pig sty" is the word for bedroom.

Just moments ago he asked his brother to get him something from "mommies pigsty"

Out of the mouths of babes.....

Blessings.

Sensitivity Training?

Barring some serious persuasion on my husbands part, I am thinking yesterday was my last appearance at church until AFTER this baby. My due date is still 2 weeks away & I am already getting  "Are you STILL here????"  "I thought you would pop weeks ago", & so on. I mean come on. Do they really think that is helpful? Like I don't know I am huge?   I think people should have to go thru "pregnancy sensitivity training"  where they will learn what NOT to say & NOT to touch & that if they don't have something nice to say just SHUT UP!

Seriously though, WHAT possesses people? They have to know they aren't helping. I think it is just inherent in our sin nature to enjoy antagonizing people.

Being our 5th baby we are also getting a lot of "Don't you know what causes that?" "Don't you have a TV ?" and my personal favorite "I am glad it is you & not me" to which I just relpy with a smile "So am I."

I have to admit I am getting anxious. I just want to have this baby. My husband has been on vacation & I was so hoping I would have the baby while he was home. Now he is putting together his travel schedule for the month & I am freaking out. I just now I'll go into labor while he's in Fresno or somewhere . Added to my own birthing anxiety, my cow has the same due date as I do. So how do I deal with a brand new baby & a brand new calf AND milking twice a day? I'm telling you I am stressing out. Which is stupid because it doesn't change anything & it's not like I have any control over anything anyway.

So here you have the ramblings of a highly pregnant woman who just WANTS HER BABY!

Blessings.

Ready

I am so ready to have this baby. I am so anxious to meet them. To know who they are & who they look like & what their name is. I want to hold them & nurse them & have them here as part of the family.  I pray he/she  will come soon.

One of my cyber-friends (as my husband calls them) was due the same time as I am & she had her baby New Years Day. I am so jealous.

Please Lord, send this baby soon & let him/her be healthy & strong.

Blessings.