We've been up to...

LOTS OF GOOD!

We're adjusting just swimmingly to being a family of 5. I love it!

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to for the past two weeks or so.

Here's a picture that I took on November 1st. I did the same thing with Jonah and Aphia each month, to see their growth in the first year of Aphia's life. So each month I'll do this picture to see how the kids grow in comparison to one another.

Jonah was reading his Bible and asked if he could read to Isaiah. Since Jonah doesn't show a whole lot of interest in Isaiah, we were all over that.

Aphia is a little Mommy! Mimicking her own Mommy! Ha!

Is he not the best lookin' little man you ever laid eyes on?!

Sleepy

I've been feeling great! Full of life, energy, completion, and all out goodness! But today I'm sleepy. Last night I went to bed with the promise of a nap the next day. I woke up at 1:30 am with the promise of a nap in 12 hours. I woke up at 7:00 am with the promise of a nap in 6 1/2 hours. And now at 12:30 pm, a beautiful nap looms on the horizon. Just one hour to go. Two kids to get down for naps, one to get up and feed, play with and put back down and then I'm DOWN. Ahhh, blessed nap, how I love you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining of lack of sleep, because my blessed babe does give me a good 5 hours in a row at night and I'm loving that. But I'm an 8 hour kind of girl.

My body's tired. My mind is tired. I hope my kids are tired. Because nappy time, here I come.

(I'll post more pictures later, when I upload them)

Isaiah John

Isaiah John made his way into the world on Wednesday October 28, 2009

at 8:31 p.m.

7 lb. 1.7 oz, 20 inches long

Today my heart is full of joy and jubilation. I am on the complete opposite end of the spectrum where post-partum depression might be an issue. I'm attuned to this issue as my mom struggled with it in a severe way after the birth of my brother. But as for me today, I'm on cloud nine! Aside from the wonderful things like, amazing friends and family visiting and loving on us, I just stand in awe of the blessings that God has given us. I feel such a peace and completion with our family of 5. This is us. We have arrived. It's an overwhelming feeling of excitement and joy, and an uncontainable contentment that I can barely describe. Whatever it is, I'm loving it, and I'll take it!





Praying that from here on out, the Lord will continue in filling me with this feeling.

On The Verge

We are ON THE VERGE of having a brand spankin' new baby!!

I went into the clinic today to check my BP and have an NST (non-stress test). I'd been having contractions on and off since Monday. They woke me up at 2:30 this morning, being every 4-5 minutes and pretty strong. When I'd get up and walk around they would subside... BUT then my blood pressure would go up. So I'd either have high BP or contractions. I was a little frustrated with that. The doctor came in today AS I was having a contraction, all hot and flush, and we talked it through and decided that Bebe will come tonight!!

She sent me home to get my things in order and I'm going back to the hospital at 6:00 p.m. to get prepped and be ready for an 8:00 p.m. c-section!

This is going to be a LOOOONG couple of hours.

This is my last few hours as a mother of 2. I'll be entering a whole new club this evening! The "I have more kids than I have hands" club. The "There are more kids than parents in this family" club. The "I'm going a little insane" club. The "Wow, look what the Lord has blessed us with" club. It's going to be good. It's going to be rough. It's going to be exciting. It's going to be crazy. It's going to be a blessing and I'm ready for it all. Here we go!

Thanks Sheriff

A couple weeks ago, I was taking Jonah to school and we got stuck behind a garbage truck and another car. After the garbage truck made 3 or 4 stops, I quickly realized that the car right behind him was not going to pass him. Granted he couldn't at first because we were actually stuck in the round-about, but then it was clear sailing around the truck, despite the double yellow line that lasted for several more houses.

Hmm. Dilemma. If I stayed behind the two vehicles I would most certainly be late, dropping Jonah off to school. So I looked up the hill to make sure no other cars were coming and, yes, despite the double yellow line, I zoomed around the garbage truck and other car so I could keep going.

Within milliseconds I heard a *GASP* from the back seat. "Mom! You can't cross over a double yellow line!!" "I know Jonah, but the garbage truck was going to be making many more stops and if we waited we'd be late for school." "But Mom, that was illegal! You can't cross those lines!" "Yes, Jonah, I know, but if I..." "You could go to jail!!!" "You're right, I will not do that again." I hang my head in shame as my 4 year old keeps my driving in check, not to mention that he knows traffic laws like these!! What four year old does that?! "I'm sorry Jonah, that was wrong and I shouldn't have done that." "Nope you shouldn't and if I was a police officer, I'd take you to jail, even though you're my mom."

Thanks Sheriff, I appreciate your love for the law.

Not Me! Monday!

I have a couple good "Not Me's" for this week. Oh and a really gross one, but I'll put it at the bottom so that if you're not up for it, you can read through the others without having to read it. But I'm betting you'll have to, because now I've peaked your curiosity :)

My bloggy friend MckMama started the "Not Me! Monday" post and I love to post about things that "did not" happen to me too! It's therapeutic to say the least. Here's the link to her blog if you want to check it out.

Upward and onward to the things that I "did not" do this past week:

Last Monday, when I picked up Jonah from pre-school, with the freakishly big scarecrow that he made, I did not put it in the front seat and forget about it there. I also did not forget that Aphia had turned the light on above her seat, so that a faint, faint light would slightly illuminate the van for the rest of the day. I would never do those things so that when Jeremiah went out into the garage late, late that night to let the dog out, it would scare the BeJebeez out of him, thinking that there was some kid in the front seat of our van!! And Jeremiah would certainly never say to me when he came back in from said adventure, "It scared the crap out of me so much, I thought my stomach was going to fall out of my butt!"

Since having been on bedrest, I try to keep both my cell phone and home phone, near me most of the time. So when I went to the doctor for an appointment on Wednesday I did not instinctively put both cell phone and home phone in my purse and bring them along with me. Since I did not bring my home phone with me, I would never have to look in my purse, see it there and feel like a total brainless dork.

This week, we have been truly blessed as I've been on bedrest, with family and friends watching our kiddos (and many other blessings besides!). However, this did not come in handy when I did not have to sing the "stranded" song while on the toilet (the one you sing so someone will bring you toilet paper since there is none on the roll). Doh.

And now for the ultra gross, ultra pregnant, ultra lazy NOT ME item you've all been waiting for... drum roll please....ddddddddddddd.... (that's my drum roll)...

Last Sunday, before I was put on bedrest and was told not to move, I was telling Jeremiah how difficult it can be to move, to do simple things, etc. He was kind of staring at me, not really understanding. But oh, don't worry, I helped him to understand in that very moment. I had just eaten an apple a bit earlier, and in the moment we were talking I did not burp up a big chunk of that apple, chew it again and swallow it back down because it was simply much easier than getting up to spit it out. That would be so gross and disgusting and no one of any civility would ever do that. If that ever did happen, I'm sure Jeremiah would simply look at me with raised eyebrows and say, "Gross. If that was easier than getting up, I get it now."

That's all for now!

Very Minimal Activity... AKA Bedrest

Word on the street is that my blood pressure is up. It had been creeping up at the last couple of appointments, nothing I thought I should be too terribly concerned about, or worry anyone over. At the doctor yesterday it was up to 156/88 and so Dr. E said she wanted me on "very minimal activity." Later when I was going to ask her exactly what that entailed and meant, she sort of beat me to the punch. She said, "Ok, so bedrest for you. Well I hate to use the term 'bedrest' because I mean, you can, like, move to the chair if you want, that's ok." OK, so I guess that means I'm down for the count. It wasn't like she said, "You can get up to make lunch and dinner for your kids or to go out and get the mail or to do any of the other countless things that might need to be done around the house." Nope, I'm down.

Last night, being the "get situated" night, we figured out what was going to happen with the kids, who would help care for them and what other things needed to be done. Family and friends have fervently stepped up to the plate with offers of help. I am humbled and extremely grateful for the help that people have given. I was even given a calendar today labeled with 9 MOPS sisters, who will be bringing us meals, on given days over the next 2 1/2 weeks! I don't feel I deserve it and always start to cry when I think about the blessings being given to us.

So alas, I sit. And sit. And lay. And sit some more. And take a nap. And lay. And sit again. And let me tell you, daytime tv is quite boring. But some great friends have called to say hi and chat for a bit, breaking up the day, which I'm thankful for.

Each day from here until my little guy is here is a blessing. Another day for him to grow and develop. Another day that he's tucked warm inside my tummy. Another day to snuggle up with two kids on my lap and love on them as much as I can before I'm distracted a little more by a 100% dependent babe. A lot of women would dread being on bedrest. But I have a choice. I can be put out by it, or I can see it as a gift. I'll go the positive route. Some mom's (like me) don't really have a "slow" button. It's either GO or STOP. I guess God pushed STOP. And so that's what I'll do.

Here's to the next 2 weeks! :)