The Apple Orchard

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately....I'm sure you understand.  And if you don't, well then you've never had a newborn.  :)

A few weeks ago we took Jenna on her first trip to the apple orchard.  The one that we always go to is closing this year, which is really sad for us since we loved it there!!!!  We'll be on the hunt for a new one next year!  We may just have to visit a bunch of them to find the perfect one!  Here are a few pictures from our trip!

 My cute little apple pickers!

I love the look of apple trees.  I just think they are so beautiful!

Miss Erika....she's getting so tall!

The sweet reward of their hard work picking apples!!

 I am SO happy with how this picture turned out! 

I got good smiles from both kids, the baby isn't screaming and the tree in the background just looks perfect!



5QF!!!!

It's been ages since I participated in a 5QF!!

Since the baby is sleeping & I'm avoiding making my grocery list and going to the store I figured I'd take the time to join in today!!





1. What is your favorite Halloween candy?

Any candy. Especially chocolate. Except I am weird....I'd rather just buy my own candy than eat some from some other stranger. It always tastes funny to me. I'm sure it's all in my head and I'm okay with that. It keeps me from eating my kids' Halloween candy.

My favorite treat to eat in the fall though is peanuts mixed with candy corn. It's almost like a salted nut roll. Yummmm.

2. Do you fold your socks?

Absolutely NOT! I have better things to do with my time!!! I sort them & put them in drawers, they can match them when it's time to put the socks on! For the kids, I only buy white socks and I only buy one kind for each kid. So really they don't have to worry about matching them, they just pull two socks out & they are the same since there are no other kind of socks in their drawer. It works well for us.

Not to mention....when you fold them it stretches out the socks & then they feel like they have already been worn for a day when you put them on & I hate that!!! I already told you in #1 that I am weird. I really am. But I really am okay with it!

3. What is something that you wish you had been warned about?

Money, budgets & credit cards. And the housing market crash...that would have been nice to know about in advance!

4. What is the most significant difference between you and your significant other?

I'd have to say body heat. It can be 40 degrees (not that it ever is!!!) in our bedroom & David could sleep with just a sheet & still sweat. It's rediculous! Me on the other hand, I'd be under 5 blankets & still be shivering.

5. What are three words you would use to describe yourself?

Hmmm....I hate this question, lol.

#1 Shy/quiet/introvert. That's 3 words right there.

#2 Maternal. I LOVE being a mom. Definitely a dream come true.

#3 Frugal. I love a good deal & saving money!!

Wordless Wednesday (almost!)

All four of my babies.

Jenna Elaine Maybelle!!!!!

Let me just warn you....if you don't want to look at way too many pictures of an adorable newborn baby girl, then you may just want to stop right now.  This post has a lot of pictures!!!

And I'll apologize for not blogging for nearly a month.  I've been just a little busy. 

My life is completely consumed by this sweet face:

On 09/21/10 at 2:15 pm Jenna Elaine Maybelle made her grand entrance into this world!

We spent the morning waiting, waiting & waiting!!  My c-section was originally scheduled for 11:30, but we didn't end up getting started until 1:30.

Daddy played on his phone & I watched TV.  And of course took pictures!

Here I am in my beautiful & ultra comfy designer hospital gown from Annie & Isabel

I seriously can't say enough good things about my hospital gown!!!  SO much better than the gowns at the hospital!  If you want to bless an expectant mom or anyone who will be spending time in the hospital I HIGHLY recommend an Annie & Isabel gown.  I did end up wearing a regular hospital gown during the c-section, which I wasn't happy about at first but the nurse suggested it "just in case" so I could have my pretty gown still clean & ready for me when I was recovering.  I am actually really glad I listened to her....within 5 minutes in the OR I had blood & fluid all over my gown!!!  Something happened with my IV, not the actual part that was in my hand, but the tube where the fluid was, somehow it came unattached & made a huge mess! 

I was SOOOO relieved when we finally made it to the OR!  The extra wait was horrible!!!  We were so anxious to meet our baby girl!  I can't believe I am actually posting this picture of me....David really wanted to take it, so I let him! (although as you can probably see, I wouldn't have been able to stop him! I couldn't hardly move!)

And she's here!!!!!  I absolutely love this picture of her because I had SEVERAL ultrasounds showing her hand over her face!  Cutie pie!!!  (I'll spare you the bloody c-section pictures...if you really want to see them you'll have to come look at her scrapbook because they will definitely be in there!!!)

Jenna's first picture with mommy & daddy!!

She weighed in at 6lbs 11ozs and was 20.5 inches long!  Her Apgar scores were great, but after about a half hour she was having a little trouble breathing.  They initially stuck an oxygen mask on her, but quickly realized she didn't need it.  What she ended up needing was a CPAP machine.  She was able to breath room air, but just needed that little bit of pressure while she worked out some fluid that was in her lungs.  She had to stay in the NICU for 48 hours while they ran a blood culture to make sure it wasn't pneumonia (it wasn't) or anything else. 

This picture is dark, but you can see the CPAP mask on her.  You can also see she has "boxing gloves" on!  She kept pulling everything off, so they had to do that to stop her.  :)  That made me smile!  My little fighter! 

This was the next morning!  Still in the NICU but as a "normal newborn"  as they put it!  We were beyond thrilled!  This was the first time I got to hold her outside of the OR.

 Caleb & Erika came to visit on Wednesday!  In our NICU, you have to be 5 in order to visit.  So in order to prevent extreme jealousy between Caleb (7) & Erika (4) we decided to not let Caleb go back & see Jenna.  They weren't terribly upset.  At that point all they cared about was seeing mama!!  They missed me.  I think they both spent most of our visit telling me how much they missed me & asking when I'd be home!  (In fact just the other day Caleb talked again about how much he missed me when I was in the hospital!!!)

What do you think?  Does Erika look like me???  I sure think so!

Two days old & they FINALLY get to meet their new sister!!! I just LOVE the look on Erika's face here!

They are proud!!!  Can you tell?



Jenna slept the whole time they visited & then this was her for the next hour:

She was WIDE awake!  Just stared at me, listening to my voice!  I absolutely loved it!  I missed her terribly those first 48 hours when she was in the NICU!  I think she missed me too.  That 1st night together she screamed anytime I put her in the little bassinet but as soon as I picked her up & snuggled, she was out again.  So we settled in together and ended up getting some pretty decent sleep.



 Here she is ready to go home!

 Get us out of here!!!!  We want to go home!

I am SO bummed, I forgot to get a picture of the 5 (!!!!) of us before we left the hospital!  Oh well though, we've gotten a couple since we've been home! 

If you have read this long...bless you!  :)  That was LONG!  I have a bunch more pictures I want to blog hopefully soon...just not tonight, baby is sleeping so I am headed to do the same very soon!!!

Transparent

So I'm just going to be real with you.  Transparent.

Something I'm not all that good at.

The longer I am pregnant the less hope I have that I will actually get to bring my baby home with me.

Backwards thinking, huh?

I know it's totally satan messing with me.

But it's how I feel.

I just have to remind myself....my hope is in the Lord. 

He will not leave us or forsake us.

Worship music is a must for me right now. 

It's the only way I will make it through this week until I have my sweet baby girl in my arms.

What's Happening??

In case you haven't heard....our sweet girl did not make her grand entrance into this world today. 

Yesterday I had an amnio done, which revealed that her lungs are not quite ready.

Of course it's hard news to swallow, when you have your heart set on meeting your baby!

However, we know it's much better for her to stay in there & keep growing so when she does arrive, she'll be healthy!

After the amnio, I didn't feel good all day & it progressively got worse as the evening went on.

I had a lower back ache, cramping & a weird pain in my upper right side.  By the end of the night I could barely walk. 

I did not think I was in labor, but I knew it wasn't right.  We called the doc & they wanted us to go in to get it all checked out just to make sure the baby & I were okay.

We spent a few hours being observed & were sent home.

We're waiting results from a urine analysis to see if I have some kind of infection.  We should know the results by the morning.

I still don't feel all that great, but I'm not nearly as uncomfortable as I was last night.

We'll have another amnio on Monday to see if this baby girls lungs are developed and if they are, she will arrive late Tuesday morning.

And if they aren't mature?  Well lets not even get started on that.  I just might need to be checked into the looney bin. 

The Great MN Get Together!!!!

Cheese curds, deep fried pickles, pronto pups, fudge puppy's, giant pickle, deep fried cheese on a stick, deep fried candy bar on a stick, quesadilla's, gizmo sandwich, smoothies, cotton candy, corn on the cob, taffy. 

I think that's it. 

That is what we ate at the fair last week when we went on opening day!! 

Thank goodness we were there for over 7 hours & shared just about everything. 

Otherwise, can you say heart attack!!!!!

Here are some picture highlights!!

I did a lot of this.....sitting in the shade!

We did more than just eat....David, Caleb & Erika at the top of the giant slide!

Caleb was too fast so I didn't get a picture of him going down the slide, but I did get Daddy & Erika!

This was one thing Erika REALLY wanted....a giant pickle!!!  The girl LOVES her pickles.  I wanted to get a picture of it before she devoured half of it, but I wasn't quick enough!

Yummy corn on the cob.  I wish I knew how they made it so I could duplicate it!  SO YUMMY!!!!

Choo Choo Bob's was at the fair, which if you know anything about Caleb, then you know this was the highlight of his day!  They had a little show and a cool layout with wooden trains they could play with.

Next up was rides!  Caleb likes rides, but he is very cautious.  He has fun usually but doesn't typically show it on his face until after the ride is over.  Erika on the other hand, that girl has no fear & likes to give her mommy a heart attack!!  She giggled the ENTIRE time on this swing ride.

This was her favorite ride!!  She called it the "tummy flying ride" 

Caleb liked this one too, I think he felt secure so he let himself enjoy it! 

Erika went a 2nd time with Caleb! 

The last treat of the day....pure sugar!!

We made one last stop on the way to the car.....the Miracle of Birth Barn!

These cuties were less than 24 hours old!

This one was only 10 or 12 hours old!  Amazing!

And these little piglets were about 9 hours old!

We ended up having a great day at the fair!!!!  Wish we could go again....just thinking about some of the food makes my mouth water! 

Probably our favorite new thing we tried this year was the deep fried candy bars!  The Reese's Peanut Butter cups were the best!!  Next time we'll have to try to deep fried oreo's!

Just some randomness....

I am exhausted.

I am beyond ready to have my girl in my arms.

My 1st baby starts 1st grade next week!

My 1st baby will be 7 (!!!!) in just a few weeks!

Erika is completely out of sorts lately.

She knows change is coming, I'm sure.

My kids are grounded FROM their room tomorrow.

They aren't taking care of their toys & therefore can't play with them for a day.

Am I the only mom who grounds their kids from their room???

My hubby & kids are going out of town this weekend for a wedding.

It is a wedding I so desperately want to be at. 

I have known the bride since, goodness I want to say, she was 4 or 5.

There is a SLIGHT chance my doc will okay the road trip. 

But it's not likely.  :(

However, I am more than happy to not risk having a baby in Kansas City.

Weird how you can feel so many emotions at once. 

I want more than anything to be at that wedding, but I want to do what's best for me & baby.

To help out, I've got a girls night planned with some friends from church.

Scrapbooking.....I can't wait!!!!

I'm really blessed to have such great friends at church.

Looking forward to Friday night too....Camp Rock 2!!  Party at my house!!!!

I LOVE that I have a friend who will watch any cheesy Disney movie & love it, just like I do!

My kids are OUT for the night!

I am working on laundry.

I will try to blog again before baby makes her grand entrance, but I make no promises!!!! 

OH YEAH, one last thing.  My sister is home!!!!!!!

She's been at Basic Training for National Guard all summer.

We missed her big time!  :)

Good night & God Bless!

29 weeks 5 days

That's how far along I am as of today.

Seems like such a random point in a pregnancy to blog about, but it's not.

Making it this far & seeing a beautiful heart beat this morning means more to me than most at 29 weeks 5 days pregnant.

The day I delivered Dylan, I was 29 weeks 5 days pregnant.

The ultrasound I had that morning on November 24, 2004 compared to the ultrasound I had this morning....breathtaking. 

Knowing that this baby girl inside me is alive & well....breathtaking.

Even when I'm uncomfortable & she is doing jumping jacks on my bladder, I'm thankful.

I know all too well what could be happening at this point of the pregnancy.

So far, this pregnancy is going much like Erika's and we have every reason to believe that we'll be choosing our daughters birthday around 37-38 weeks vs. having it chosen for us because there is something wrong.

We are very anxious to get this sweet baby girl in our arms, but we cherish every day she spends inside me growing.

Bad bad blogger.....

It's been WAY too long since I blogged! 

I do however have a good excuse. 

I'm currently growing a human being. 

That takes a LOT of energy!

I have a post brewing in my head, but for the most part it will have to wait till Friday! 

Come back then! :)

P.S. If you live in my area & need boy clothes let me know!  I'm selling all my boy clothes size newborn-5 in a garage sale this week!!!!

A few thoughts from our beach trip today

Today we ventured out to a new beach.  Thankfully this new beach is very close to us!!! 

Here are my thoughts:

1. If you don't like sand you probably shouldn't bring your kids to a sandy beach.  One mom there was flipping out over the sand! 

2. I'm all for self confidence & being secure with the way your body looks.  But sometimes no matter how secure & confident you are,  you still shouldn't be wearing a bikini.

3. If your kids "need" something from you every few minutes, tell thim it's almost time to go & then magically they don't "need" anything for at least a 1/2 hour!  :)

4. I just *might* be willing to get sand in every crevice of my body & do all the work of a beach trip every week if it guarantees me napping kids afterwards!!!!!

We're having a SISTER!

Those were Caleb's words.  :) 

A few weeks ago David and I found out that we are indeed having another little girl.

We are thrilled!  And so are the kids.  Both of them wanted this baby to be a girl, but both for different reasons.  Erika really wanted a sister & Caleb...well he just wants his own room! 

I have thought all along that we were having a girl, so I will admit that it was kind of fun to be right!  Ultimately though, all we wanted was a healthy baby.  It appears we are having just that, a healthy baby. 

I still struggle with believing that we will get to bring a baby home, but I kind of think that's normal.
I think I could be pregnant 10 more times & will still always wonder what is going to happen to the baby. 
But don't worry, I'm not going to be pregnant 10 more times, this is it!

We told the kids by wrapping up an outfit & blanket that we plan to bring this sweet girl home in.  Before they opened it, we showed them the ultrasound pictures & then told them if the presents in the bags were blue, they were having a brother and if they were pink they were having a sister.  

I think they are both happy.  Look at those smiles!!

Five Question Friday!!!

WHOA!!!  I'm actually a) blogging and b) doing 5QF!!!  It's been a while since I've done either!!!  AND I'm doing it on Thursday!!!!

1. Is there something you've always wanted to try but just can't muster up the courage to actually do yet?

Hmmm, not really.  I mean there are plenty of things that I haven't done, but nothing that I have always wanted to do. 

2. If you had $100 handed to you in cash without your significant other knowing about it, what would you spend it on?
Well first of all, I would tell my hubby that I had the money!  Having a successful marriage starts with communication!!!  Besides if someone handed me $100 & I wanted to spend it, he'd let me!!  Right now I'd probably put it into the "new tv" fund.

3. What was your favorite piece of playground equipment as a child?
I loved the swings & tire swings, but they made me sick!  They still do to this day.  I sit on a swing & within a minute I feel sick to my stomach!!!  My favorite thing that didn't/doesn't make me sick is long & windy tube slides!  They are fun & never get too burning hot in the summer since they are covered!
4. Do you prefer a sweet or hearty breakfast?
I like a little bit of both!  I have a sweet tooth & could eat something sweet at every meal!!

5. Are you a Neat Freak or a Messy Bessy?
Somewhere in between, but WAAAAYYYY closer to neat freak than to messy bessy!

Tomorrow I'm headed out on a field trip with Caleb's class, so I'll link up with all the other 5QF'ers once I'm home.  (5QF'ers.....that just sounds wrong, oh well!)

In Limbo

That's kind of how we feel right now.

We know we are not where we want to be forever. But we don't know our next step.

This baby helps big time. We aren't making ANY changes until at least January 1st.

We've moved with a newborn before & it isn't fun. Not even a little.

It was ONE week after my c-section with Erika. And then again when she was three weeks old.

(New house wasn't available right away, but we had to close on the old one)

Although part of me wishes we could just move this summer & be settled.

Considering we don't know what's next for us, that would make it a little hard.

And then there's the whole health insurance thing too.

I have phenomenal coverage right now & I don't want to loose that.

It's SOOOO hard to be patient.

But for now that's what I'll have to do.

Be patient.

The Lord knows how we feel.

And the Lord knows our next step.

Please help us to be patient while we wait, Lord.

Barbie's house??

Last weekend I took the kids to a few garage sales in one of the nicer neighborhoods in our city.

As we drove past some HUGE houses my daughters eyes were big as saucers.

One house in particular, her mouth was wide open as she saw the sheer beauty of this house.

"Mooommmm, look at that beauuuutiful house!"

It was beautiful. If I had my camera with I would have taken a picture.

We went on our merry way to the next garage sale.

Afterwards we drove past the beautiful house again.

And again my daughter was in awe.

"Mom, do you think that is where the REAL Barbie lives?"

Priceless. Seriously.

To have the innocence of a child.

To think that Barbie is a real person & could live in our town.

If I knew my way around the neighborhood I would go back to take a picture.

Although "Barbie" may not appreciate some stranger coming by her house to take a picture of it.

Streams of Consciousness

Do you read MckMama's blog?? She does posts titled streams of consciousness, and I think these kinds of posts are right up my alley for now. I can't seem to sit down & get my thoughts together enough to do a regular post.
So let's see. I can't wait for Caleb to be in school everyday of the week. It's not that I don't enjoy having him home a couple days a week, it's just that he is READY to be a full time student. I kind of had a feeling this would happen since he's the oldest in his class.
In other Caleb news, he is currently building a Pinewood Derby car at church and is very excited to race it this Sunday!! Daddy is looking forward to it as well!
I really think this baby is going to be a girl, but we'll find out May 17th as long as the baby cooperates!! I'm finally feeling much better, just dealing with some gagging & dry heave issues.
My dishwasher is currently running.
My kids are crazy this morning. I think a trip to the park is definitely in order! They have SO much energy.
I absolutely love this time of year when you don't need the heat OR the air conditioning running! It's so nice to just have my windows open and enjoy the fresh air.
So there you have it! All my random thoughts of this morning!

The REAL reason....

Ok so the real reason I haven't been blogging.....

I'm pregnant!!!!!

We are very excited. I've been so nauseous and I can't stand looking at the computer screen for very long right now!

I'm hoping it will get better soon though.

I am 12 weeks along right now, due October 3rd. (but b/c of my history I'll have a c-section in mid September)

A little over a week ago I got to hear the heartbeat! That was music to my ears.

I'll be back to regular blogging hopefully soon!!!

A little funny story!

I don't want to forget about this, therefore I'm blogging about it!!

Last night we were doing our nightly bedtime routine, which includes a group hug & good night prayers.

We were all sitting on Erika's bed, she was playing with her puppy's (the stuffed kind...no we don't have a dog) & Caleb, who hasn't been feeling the greatest was coughing a little.

We all talked a little & then it was time for our group hug & praying.

David was praying & said "and help Caleb to feel better & not bark so much"

And then the laughter started. oh.my.goodness.

Then Erika pipes in & says "bark? That's whay my puppy's do, not Caleb"

Hilarious!

So fun to end the day laughing all together as a family!

The Tooth Fairy

Recently the tooth fairy visited our family for the first time!

Not this tooth fairy though:

Oh no, the real tooth fairy visited our house!

Caleb lost his tooth in the middle of the night actually, and he ended up loosing the actual tooth! Not sure if he swallowed it or where it ended up. He was pretty concerned that the tooth fairy wasn't going to come because of this! The remedy? A letter to the tooth fairy!

Here's the finished product! Complete with a picture of a tooth "just in case the tooth fairy can't read"....too funny!
He's very proud of the empty space in his mouth!! Although, the new tooth is growing in pretty quickly.

Caleb has another tooth that is just starting to be loose & he can't wait for the tooth fairy to visit him! He's hoping he doesn't have to write another letter this time!