peace and quiet

I can't believe it is December 1st already! My keyboard is messing up so I'm not sure how long this will be, but the house is quiet, Steven is playing soccer, so it seemed like a good time to blog. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week in Charlotte. I was using my Mom's digital scale to follow my weight and I was pleased to have lost 3 pounds in the month of November by not eating sweets.....which I promptly put right back on in the next few days. Oh well, gold star for effort, right? My new goal is to either allow myself to have dessert or sweet tea, but not both, each day. I'm doing ok with that. The good news is that David is now 6 months old (I can't believe it!) and I ventured back out to the gym today with all 3 kids. When I came to pick them up Sadie asked if they could stay longer, so I think they're glad to be back. Sometimes it's just nice to get out of the house. Sadie managed, in one morning at home, to fill up each one of our stockings with "gifts", then "wrap" several more things in walmart bags and put them under the tree. It was a cute idea, but quite a mess as it ended up all over the floor once everything was "opened". Oh the excitement of Christmas! She will be in her preschool play and also one at church so I am hoping that we will have lots of conversation this month about Christ and try to minimize the commercial aspects of it all, but it's hard. They are kids, and they like to get new toys. We all did. So as much as I would like to produce children that are selfless and giving at a young age... I don't see it happening with mine this year. Hopefully we'll score high on thankfulness at least, and the other important lessons will come with time and maturity.
Speaking of maturity, Eli has GOT to stop pooping in his diaper. His little bottom simply cannot take the constant pooping, which he is doing again for some reason (I think yogurt may be the culprit). I know I have blogged way too much about my son's bowel habits but I can't help it, it's MY LIFE right now. But despite the flailing and wrestling at diaper changes and frequent whining and pouting of a 2 year old, when he fell asleep in my arms for a rare nap today I couldn't help but fall in love with the little guy all over again. He's just that sweet sometimes. As are the others two, especially David. (Sadie is known for lots of great things but sweet doesn't usually top the chart). My computer is beeping at me and I am super tired so I think I'm going to close this rambling post.....

goodnight!

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Head above water

I was beginning to think my little chunker was never going to sleep though the night...then last week he did it! He has gone without a middle of the night feeding for the past 6 nights! Yea! I probably shouldn't talk about it but I'm hoping it's going to last. That doesn't mean this Mama has slept through the night yet, for some reason or another (the children shall remain nameless) I have been awakened a few times the past few nights. However, the 1 or 2 long stretches of sleep have been fabulous and I am very thankful for them. I feel like I've been swimming under the surface for awhile and now my head is above water. (3 kids are heavy to swim with, hee...hee.., pardon the bad joke I am a little tired tonight).
On a serious note, the Lord has truly blessed us with Esther, and I am actually getting pretty spoiled. I haven't asked her to do much at all but every time I turn around she is cleaning the kitchen or folding clothes. I think she's becoming comfortable and hopefully enjoying her time here. She's said several times that people are very friendly. Tomorrow I will take her to Reading Connections in town where she will figure out what English classes she should take, she's excited about school. I'm hoping when D starts talking it will be in Korean.
Only 5 more days until Thanksgiving, which I'm excited about for several reasons. One of those is because I haven't had sweets this month and Steven hasn't had any soda - and we're stopping that nonsense on Thanksgiving. We've been drinking a lot of Sweet Tea lately, so the "diets" probably haven't been too successful. Oh well, if we did lose a lot of weight I'm sure we'd gain it back over the holidays. Oh how I love to eat over the holidays! Thankfully David will be 6 months old soon and I can go back to the gym. I can't believe how fast my little guy is growing up, this time is sweet and fleeting. I'm going to end this rambling post and head to bed so I can enjoy this phase whenever it starts in the morning. Until next time!

Crazy week...+1 more in the fam

This week has proved to be interesting for the Harrells. I worked a record long 32 hour shift in Charlotte, from Wednesday morning at 8am to Thursday afternoon at 4pm. Obviously, this would not be possible at most NICUs, but this particular hospital is a little slower paced. I generally get a full night's sleep, plus Mama brought David up to nurse a couple of times. I left the big kids in Charlotte with Steven and his Mom, whenever the kids are split up it makes it much easier on the caregivers. I guess since I birthed them I don't usually get that option. Ha.
Anyways, while I was gone Steven called me about an email he had received, regarding a young Korean girl who needed a place to stay. She had come to America to work on her English, but the medical clinic she was going to be involved with did not work out as she had planned. Through some missionary contacts in Korea she was "rescued" by an older couple in West Virginia, where she has been staying for the past month or so. The email stated that she would like to live with a family that she could help with household chores or childcare in exchange for room and board, and she wanted to be involved in a local meeting like the kind Steven and I go to. After a moderate amount of prayer and even less discussion, we drove to Asheboro on Friday afternoon and brought her home to live with us, until June. It's interesting how the Lord works. I had recently been feeling like I wasn't doing anything to serve the Lord, besides what I do for my family. Steven has the prison ministry and his speaking ministry, but I had nothing. Then on Sunday we heard a sermon about how Jesus blessed the little children and how we too should reach out to the orphans. Esther isn't exactly an orphan, but she did need a family and a place to live! I noticed her sweet spirit immediately and feel very good about the situation. Her English is not bad and she is very easy to be around. I hope the Lord uses us as a blessing in her life but I think the opposite might be more true in the end!
In addition to our new "family member", we had Leslie and her kids in town this weekend, another friend spend the night last night from Raleigh, and Steven had to go to Richmond, VA, last minute, to speak at a Youth Conference today. Sometimes I think it would be nice if things slowed down, but for the most part we are enjoying the ride! I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds. Until then....

Halloween without the pictures

I'm not sure what's wrong with blogger tonight but I can't get the pictures from Halloween to upload. Oh well, they weren't that cute (the costumes were but the kids wouldn't smile for the camera). Picture this - a 4 year old bumblebee, a 2 year old monkey, and a 5 month old chicken. Well, it was pretty cute. I have to say that by the time Halloween rolls around I am pretty tired of the holiday. I am not one for scary stuff, never have been. I made my friends in high school leave the haunted house before going in on more than one occasion. I always avoid horror movies. And is it just me, or have the yard decorations gotten a little out of hand? A neighbor of my Mom's had 3 "dead people" hanging from their trees. Really? How am I supposed to explain that to my 4 year old? I mean, carve a pumpkin, people, and keep your death obsession inside your home. I just don't get why so many people enjoy being frightened, but I think I am in the minority these days since the box office is full of horror flicks. There's enough evil in this world by our true foe, the Devil, that I don't care to indulge in any extra. Sorry, I will get off my soap box now...all that to say, Halloween was a fun night for the Harrells. We went to a church around the corner and participated in "Trunk or Treat" (a great alternative for tiny legs), then came home and went trick or treating to about 4 of our neighbor's homes. David was pretty tired of being a chicken by that time. I am going to do my best to keep Halloween G-rated in my home as my kids get older....maybe I'll continue dressing them in fluffy animal costumes if they want to trick or treat, I'm sure that will go over really well.
I have decided that it would be ok if the kids didn't grow up....most of the time. I know it's inevitable but they can be so sweet now. I have a few hours of just Eli time every week when Sadie's in school and David's taking a nap. I give him lots of hugs and tell him he's my sweet boy. Today he told me "you're my tweet girl". He also said I was a "dood" (good) Mommy. Tonight he said "I wuv you dooo (so) much". Yea, I'll keep him 2 as long as possible!

Go Figure

I've often heard mother's say "Just when I had this sleep (feeding, carseat, etc) thing figured out the kid goes and does something totally different!" Parenting is all about flexibility, it seems, as our carefully construed schedules for our children are (at least in my house) rarely followed. I admit, schedules for kids are not totally overrated as sleep and food are usually necessities in a toddler's life. But as predictable as some things in life seem, my kids are NOT.
Sadie has seen a total of 4 movies in her life, at the movie theatre, only 2 of those were with me. So far she has wept many tears at each movie, usually in fear of "the bad guy", but also when Simba's dad died (which prompted a very sweet conversation between her and Steven regarding his mortality). We took her and 3 of her cousins to see "The Smurfs" at the dollar movie last weekend and pretty much every time Gargamel made an appearance she held onto Steven for dear life. She ended up in my lap by the end of the movie for the big fight scene where the smurfs defeat Gargamel once and for all and throw him in a heap of garbage. Literally 2 minutes before she was begging to go home, weeping over captured Papa Smurf, then at the end of the movie she turns around and says "I loved it, that was my favorite movie and I want to watch it everyday." Go figure.

Eli, as I have mentioned, has given us some sleep and diaper issues lately. He used to be so easy putting to bed and a great sleeper so I'm not sure where we went wrong, but lately he's discovered he doesn't have to stay in bed, he can get up and walk around, play, usually he just crawls really slowly through the hall. We have found him asleep many times at the top of the stairs, in the hall, or on the floor next to Sadie's bed. The other night we let Sadie fall asleep in her bed and put Eli in ours (usually we do it the other way around since they share rooms, the move Sadie to her bed after she's asleep). We came upstairs to check on them and go to bed and Eli wasn't in our bed. Where was he? In his, fast asleep. Go figure. And tonight, after weeks of talking about potty training, occasional peeing in the potty (and pooping once), Eli NEVER mentioning that he has to go, I turn around while giving David a bath and he is sitting naked on the potty, peeing and pooping all by himself, with no prompting. Go figure.

Now for David, he is perplexing me as well. From the beginning he gave me pretty good stretches of sleep, but the last month he has seemed to go backwards and wanting to wake up and nurse more in the middle of the night. So the last few weeks I bit the bullet and started putting him to bed in his own room, in his crib, and feeding him in there in the middle of the night (vs. taking him back to our bed). He was not improving, in fact he seemed to be waking up more. (Crying it out wasn't really working, either). So, last night he was up by the time I was turning out the lights to go to bed. I let him cry for a few minutes then just gave up and went and got him and brought him to our bed. He ate a little, then fell asleep between us and slept until 7:15 the next morning. Go figure. 

To conclude, one of my favorite parenting quotes "you just gotta find what works." That's the theme of my home lately, it seems. If I figure it all out, I'll let you know. :)

Circle of Life

Shannon Hills is having special meetings this week and showing a video series entitled "The Truth Project." We went tonight and I thoroughly enjoyed being intellecutally challenged about philosophy and biblical worldviews, it was great reminder about "renewing our minds" (Romans 12:2). A good deal of the lecture was about the definition of philosophy and Carl Sagan's view of the "cosmos." Ironically, as we were walking through the parking lot to our car Sadie was singing "Circle of Life" (from the Lion King, eerily familiar to the humanist's God-less perspective on life). We have some work to do.
To Sadie's defense, she did just go see "The Lion King" (in 3D!) with her Daddy. A couple weekends ago I got a call and decided to work a 24 at the Charlotte job instead of travel to Richmond, VA, where Steven was speaking the following day. The boys went to Charlotte with me and Sadie got a "special trip" with Daddy. When I asked if she was behaving Steven replied "of course she is, I'm giving her everything she asks for today" The trip started out with a Dollar General run to stock up on Candy and Fruit Loops. She talked the entire 3 hour trip and after they dropped their stuff off at the church (they have this great little apartment attached to the church that the speaker stays in), they went to McDonald's for dinner and then the movies. I talked to her that night and she was in no way missing Mama, she told me she was going to send me a postcard. Steven says she was wired and probably not quite asleep before he was. I hope that was the first of many sweet trips they get to take together.
Eli is still cracking us up most of the time. He is quite dramatic and can be such a whiner (who ever said girls whine and boys don't was wrong, at least in the Harrell family). He gives lots of kisses and likes his "pogams" on tv but spends most of his time finding the highest horizontal surface, climbing onto it, then jumping off. No broken bones yet, but he did break a lamp this week. He is loving to read lately and I've just had to get used to his constant repeating of every word I say. His favorite one right now is "Uncle Bigtoot (bigfoot)" We are still doing a lot more talking about potty training than actually doing it, I tell him most days how big boys (which he is, he has no doubt) pee in the potty. The other day he walked in on Steven using the bathroom and after looking him up and down to make sure he knew what was going on he replied with certainty "you a big boy!" 
Speaking of big boys,I took David to the doctor today and he weighs in at 15 pounds, 5 ounces! It's only the 50th percentile but he seems huge to me! After scrawny Sadie I never thought I'd have such a chunky monkey. I also thought if I ever had a fat baby that surely he would sleep through the night by now, but apparently I was wrong about that too. That being said I should close this out so I can get some sleep while I can. Between my night owl, my early riser, and my night feeder my sleep is quite deprived at the moment. But I know this too shall pass... and then I'll just miss them being babies! Goodnight~

Vipers (and a lot of poop) in diapers

My old pastor used to refer to young children as "vipers in diapers" referring, of course, to the depravity of man and how our sinfulness becomes evident pretty early in life. That is definitely the case in our kids, and if you think your children are sinless you must not be paying very good attention. Steven was asked to fill in and speak at a church down the street that we had never attended. It was a sweet group of people and Sadie had enjoyed her time in the children's church and nursery. As we were leaving I noticed she had something under her papers and discovered it was a box of crayons. I told her to put them back and, to my dismay, had to keep telling her to as she was very determined to steal the crayons. I'm sure they'll have us back, the young preacher and his thief of a daughter. :)
Meanwhile, our Eli is having a bit of trouble in the potty department. He has this pooping issue where he will go several times a day which inevitably makes his bottom red. He has learned several responses to try to get us not to change him, including "I'm not done yet!" and "it's just gas!" Once he realizes his rear is going to get cleaned, he then yells "gentle!" and "I need keem! (cream)". I told him the other day that this was ridiculous, and he needed to poop in the potty. I sat him on there and he actually peed and pooped a little - I felt like I was witnessing a birth. I was cheering, chanting "push, push"....it's amazing what I've succumbed to as a mom! Unfortunately, that was the last time we had any potty success. Oh well.
David is, as usual, perfect. The only thing he does slightly wrong is needing to eat in the middle of the night. But I'll take it as opposed to the sneaky stealer and constant pooper. I know his days are coming, too, I need to prepare myself for 3 little sinners in my care. Hopefully, I can instruct them and show them a fraction of the grace and mercy my Lord has shown me. I am daily thankful for the task and pray for His help as I lead these little ones.

To Coupon or Not to coupon....that is my question

I know, I know, I need to get a real problem. But Steven recently overhead someone (who will remain nameless) talk about all the money she saved with couponing so he has decided that I should try it. He has been very discontent with our Walmart bill as of late, and so I agreed to at least look at the websites and see. I know people save a lot of money doing this but I am just not convinced that it is for me....and here are my reasons....
1. I shop at Walmart and Food Lion, which I have heard that neither of these places double or triple coupons. The closest Harris Teeter is 20 minutes and I don't even know where to find Kroger and BiLo.
2. I don't buy very much of the food that is in the coupon fliers, the yogurt and diapers that I do buy I use coupons for. Everything else, for me, is cheaper to buy generic at Walmart.
3. I have 3 children that make a very simple grocery store run quite exhausting, I can't imagine spending even more time looking for the exact brand, size, and quantity of items that (I have heard) are often sold out of if it's a really good deal.
Ok, so those are my reasons, but....I will give it a good ole college try, for Steven's sake. Or maybe I should make him do it. Just reading the SouthernSavers website has made me tired. I will say, I am growing fond of Aldi's. I shopped there today with Eli and David and thought I was prepared. I had my quarter for the buggy and bags for the food (last trip there I was 8 months pregnant, carrying everything, with Sadie and Eli running around). I was feeling quite smug until I finished checking out and was reminded they take only debit or cash (who carries cash these days?), and I haven't used my debit card in so long I had forgotten my pin. It was quite embarrasing, but thankfully the lady at the bank was familiar with Aldi's and kindly reset my password right there so I could use my debit card. Lesson learned.
Eli is quite the handful these days. I think age 2 is the cutest but also the most trying age (I say that, but I don't currently have a 3 year old - so I might retract this statement next year). He constantly says things like "I a big boy" and "I wanna do it by mydelf" but just as quickly whines like a baby when he can't get his shoe on or spills syrup on his shirt. He has so many funny things he says, I'll try to list a few:  pee-cool (preschool), dunday cool (sunday school), yo-rick (yogurt), pampakes (pancakes), and tousins (cousins). Of course right now I can't think of anymore, how is that possible when he talks all day long? I'll ask him if I should coupon. I'm sure he'll have an answer for me. Comments are welcome, as well, on the issue. Goodnight!

Sibling Love

 I still can't believe I have 3 offspring, but I have to say it is starting to sink in. For the kids too, they are getting pretty attached to each other. Steven and I just spent a few days in California and just took the baby. It was a great weekend in Tiburon for my cousin's wedding, then we spent a couple days in San Fran with Steven's high school buddy and his wife. Lil D traveled pretty well but I have to say I am pretty ready to just be home for awhile now. The big kids stayed with my in-laws and were excited to see us, but especially David, when we got home. It was cute.

This picture doesn't really have anything to do with my post, I just thought it was too cute not to include. She was the flower girl in a wedding last month and this is her at the rehearsal dinner.

 And here is my little man, getting bigger all the time! He's the only one that's hit the 50th percentile on growth so far. Sadie is 4 years old and 32 pounds, which puts her just under the 3rd percentile - par for her course. Eli's about 27-28 pounds, so not far behind Sadie.

 As you can see, David is quite enamored with his big brother. The 100-200 "tisses" every day from Eli don't seem to bother him. Below is a kiss in action (Eli prefers to give fish kisses, if possible, and to me he says "I want to tiss you on da mouf!"). Yeah, I will definitely pull this picture out when they're all tough and playing high school baseball together.

Now these 2 are quite the pair these days. They have fun together and get in trouble together. Sadie is pretty bossy but Eli usually doesn't mind and for the most part they play well together. The other day Sadie was on a special trip with Daddy and Eli and I were having lunch together while David took a nap. I said a quick blessing for our food and time together and he immdiately shouted "Mommy you didn't pay fa Dadie!" (pray for Sadie, if you don't regularly interpret Eli).

 Sadie's first day of preschool was today! She was very excited and had a great day. She said she even climbed under the bathroom stall to "rescue" a little girl that couldn't unlock the door. The only reason I believe her is because that's a pretty elaborate story to make up if it's not true. She has several "old friends" in her class from last year but assured me she was going to make some new ones too. I get that Girl Scout song in my head every time we talk about that, you remember, "make new friends....but keep the o-ld....one is silver and the o-ther gold". At least it replaces the Fresh Beat Band songs, which are usually playing (in my head, embarrasingly).

 I have to mention a little cousin love, mainly because I couldn't not put this picture up. We actually saw a little pee-pee out of this experience, but in general potty training is pretty much at a standstill. I'm not worried about it, he wont wear diapers to kindergarten.....right?

This has been a very random post but my brain is working sub-par these days, so forgive me please. My camera is again in my posession so I am trying to take more pictures these days (it was left at a church for about 3&1/2 weeks in August, and hiding in my pocketbook for a couple weeks in July). Until next time!!

Enough Sweets!

August is birthday month, there are 5 people in our family that have birthdays (1 neice, 2 nephews, and both of my parents). My dad's birthday was a big one, the big 6-0. A great tennis score and hopefully a great age, thankfully he still plays great tennis at his age. We had a party for him the night before his birthday and it was full of surprises, which is pretty different for him (usually his Christmas present is something he picked out himself, oftentimes even bought himself). But this year Mom really outdid herself and planned a surprise trip to the US Open in New York City, booking the hotel, flights, and tennis match tickets in secret. She had a great scavenger hunt that led back into the kitchen where we had set up the adorable tennis court cake my sister-in-law made, surrounded by the "stadium" made of styrofoam and pictures of crowds. She had cut out a picture of the two of them, glued it to a toothpick, and stuck it in the top of the "stands". The tickets were rolled up next to the cake. He also received, in his scavenger hunt with 6 little helpers, a book that I put together with input from everybody else "60 Reasons Why We Love Papa". I think he felt the love, so the night was a success.

My Mom's birthday was this past Thursday, and Mandy and I managed to surprise her a little as well. We took a train ride downtown to Imaginon (this great public library in Charlotte), listened to Storytime, had lunch at Fuel's Pizza, then after some nap/rest time at her house had a picnic dinner at a neighborhood park. Since spending time her family kinda tops the chart for her I think it was a great birthday, as well. Giving gifts is NOT my specialty and it has gotten even worse now that shopping is near impossible. Mandy, however, is the world's best at giving gifts and her children have not hindered her at all....with each child she has I think she actually improves the thoughtfulness of the gifts. I basically gave Mom an "IOU" for her birthday (which I did make good on the following day), but Mandy had several presents throughout the day. She is amazing!

All of these parties coupled with my pregnant mentality of eating whatever I want has led to some self discovery. I am addicted to dessert. I like to have people over to socialize, yes, but also because it's a good excuse to make a pan of brownies. Isn't that awful? I started working out again a few weeks ago and the scale has been stubbornly not moving at all. I finally came to realize the cold hard truth - I cannot eat dessert with 1-2 meals a day and expect to lose weight. I am not 16 anymore. So, Mom and I made a pact to eat no dessert until our trip to San Francisco, starting yesterday. (We couldn't start on her birthday because Mandy brought these awesome cakepops...). We leave for San Francisco next Friday in 6 days, but don't laugh. Giving up sweets is pretty serious for me so I am taking baby steps. Today was my first true temptation (I actually felt like I was on The Biggest Loser!), take a look at the picture below from our MOPS planning meeting. I will confess that I popped 1 M&M before remembering my sweets fast but that was my only indiscretion. I feel very proud of myself for this dieting accomplishment. Hopefully I wont eat my weight in cake next weekend.......

The New Normal

I was talking to my good friend the other day that just recently had her 3rd baby, as well, and I asked her how she was adjusting. She said it well, that she was getting used to the new normal, slowly but surely. My new normal consists of a few differences that I have noticed so far. My hair is always air-dried and rarely brushed. Sometimes my makeup can last for 2 days. My pocketbook is the same thing as the diaper bag. Most of my shirts smell like spit up for a good part of the day. So does David. An afternoon or evening swim = bath. And so the list goes on.

 Here is a picture of David from our trip to camp. Steven was the speaker for Junior Boys this year so we went up with him on Sunday. Eli lasted until Tuesday night and went home with my in-laws; Sadie, David and I came home Wednesday night. It was refreshing to be up there, around so many godly young people that are on staff and a bunch of excited little boys, but it is just not the easiest place to be with toddlers. Plus I got Mastitis.....again.

 A couple nights before camp we dressed up like cows (don't make fun, these are what you call "home-made" outfits) in order to get free Chick-fil-a food. We really didn't feel that stupid as most of the people in the restaurant looked nearly as silly as we did. The only stupid people in there were the ones that had to pay for their food. This will most definitely be an annual event.

 The last night Steven was at camp we met my dear friend and her little ones for dinner and Cook-Out milkshakes...a fun evening. Here are our boys (minus David) and the girls below. Sweet friends.

 And on the days that we spend at home, we do a lot of this. Feeding babies. It's been a great summer so far, and I think I'm going to like the new normal.

The rest of June....

 2 weeks and 5 days after having David, we loaded up the rented Mazda 5 (it's a long story and not blog-worthy) and left before 8am for Skyland Bible Conference in Dayton, Tennessee. It was a great week of family time, good Bible teaching, and way too much ice cream. Sadie was her normal social self and it was near impossible to keep her at our table at mealtimes, she was off talking to people before we knew it (and often talking them into getting her some dessert). I was very thankful for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law who helped me a lot, especially with my big kids, so I could get some much needed rest. Despite the rest I did get Mastitis again but, thankfully, had come prepared with a 3rd round of antibiotics. Here is a picture of the Harrell grandkids, all 7 of them. They have such a good time together and it is great to watch them make these memories.

 Steven was worn out from the trip so he and David snuck in a quick nap after we got there. Do they look alike or what?

 We decided not to go home after the Conference but go visit some great friends that recently moved to Statesboro, GA. We had a great night with them and a yummy breakfast the next morning before heading to Hilton Head. Sadie and Lily were very happy to see each other.

 Most of Hilton Head was spent in the pool, especially the kids. We vacationed with most of my Mom's side of the family, everyone was there except one aunt and 2 cousins. We've been doing this for like 30 years now and had almost as many people in the house for dinner most nights. I celebrated my 32nd birthday while down there, which Sadie decided to bust her chin open for. Mom and I were putting the finishing touches on my birthday dinner when Jesse (my cousin's wonderful husband) came walking in from the pool with a bleeding Sadie. She apparently said "hey guys, watch this", then proceeded to jump in backwards, catching her chin on the side of the pool. Thankfully, Jesse is an ER Pediatrician who deals with this all the time and he was able to "glue" it back together, avoiding stitches. Which was great for the wallet but especially for Sadie. We avoided the water for 24 hours then covered it up with waterproof bandages after that. My Mom kept trying to tell her she was brave but she refuted it, saying "No I wasn't Nana, I cried." 

Sadie and Eli had 3 other second cousins to play with, and the girls did quite well together (Lucy is 5 and Sophia is almost 3). Eli and Benjamin, however, showed their 2 year old-ness and had a weeklong competition with who could say "mine" the most. Benjamin even took it to a new level when his Mom was changing his diaper and Eli came in the room he yelled "My poop!" As if Eli wanted it, but, you never know with these guys. Eli can be quite the drama queen but he keeps us laughing. He got up early every morning and had breakfast with Papa, even developing a taste for Daddy's OatBran cereal. It was a great week and the picture below really says it better than I can. 

 It's getting harder to get a good picture of everyone, and this one isn't the best but it shows how much Sadie and David look alike. David's changed so much even since this picture so I will blog again soon with a more recent one. And some tales of our July days, which have been just as busy as June!

Adjusting

I can't believe our new little man is almost 2 weeks old! We are slowly getting used to having another person in the house, although he is such a good baby that when chaos is erupting around us we tend to forget he is even there. Unfortunately, as par for my course, I developed Mastitis last Saturday (I also got this about 5 days post-partum after Sadie and Eli). I woke up chilled and feverish in the middle of the night, shaking like after the baby was born. My Mom was a huge help as Steven was out of town for a family wedding (he was the officiant!), my Dad also came back up for the weekend. For those of you who don't like for someone to stay with you after you have a baby YOU ARE CRAZY, especially with other kids in the house. Physically and emotionally, I couldn't have managed that first week and a half without my Mom! Many tears were shed on Thursday when she left, everyone but Steven and David I believe (although Steven was definitely in favor of her staying, as long as she was willing). I was beginning to gain some confidence that I could handle mothering 3 until today, when my fever shot back up with a recurrence of Mastitis (hello, new antibiotics). Thankfully my in-laws are in town and were planning on having the big kids spend the night tonight and taking them to church tomorrow, and Steven is here to take care of me. David's my little bed-buddy, he's happy as a lark to lounge around in the bed with me all day, snoozing and nursing.
The big kids are doing well the baby, minus a few mishaps in behavior. They both seem to really love him, especially Sadie, who has spent a lot of time holding and singing songs to David, usually about her being his sister and how much she loves him, etc.. Eli leans over and gives him kisses about 25 times a day, and seems to have gentle intentions, at least. He's had a little bit of a hard time with nursing, (does he remember?) and has appeared very interested in trying it himself. He asked me soon after we were home "what doin' Mommy?" and I said "nursing the baby, but he doesn't seem very hungry right now," Eli quickly responded "I hungry!" I've also made sure to trade out holding the baby, when possible, for some good snuggles with Eli. One day I was by myself with the boys and he was walking around singing "Hol' me, hol' me, hol' me" to the tune of "Holy, Holy, Holy". Too cute. I've felt especially sorry for him at times, though, as he seems to have changed from the apple of Sadie's eye to the bad guy. She has some displaced anger, I think, and has been quite mean to him at times. Her way of adjusting, I'm sure, but we are still attempting to nip in the bud. For the most part she has been quite the little helper, and for that I am glad. Today when I was feeling my worst I think they were feeling the effects of some mild neglect. They both climbed into the bottom of new co-sleeper and zipped themselves inside, unable to get out. If I wasn't worried they were going to break it I would have left them in there a while, to teach them a lesson. But I didn't.
We are blessed to have grandparents near and far to help in times like this, but I am ready to feel better, get my house in order, and have my big babies sleeping in their own beds again. For now I will snuggle with my sweet bundle and concentrate on fighting off the Mastitis once and for all, or, until next time.

And Then There Were Three

A quick disclaimer to this birth story is that I have some help remembering the details. My mom is a birth doula and keeps a notebook of her client's births, jotting down notes as she can during the labor process. So, her notebook is by my side as I recount the details of May 30th, 2011, one of the best days of my life! Truly, the story starts early Saturday morning as I woke up with contractions and began to worry I was going to have to cancel Sadie's birthday party. We had a huge day planned with lots of guests and a new (used) swingset being brought up and put together by my Dad. I worried through several contractions then finally, an hour or two later, went back to sleep. I continued to cramp on and off throughout the day as well as have other "labor signs" but we enjoyed a great birthday party with 14 kids and 12 adults and a very happy Sadie. Steven was preaching the next day in Winston Salem and again, in the middle of the night, I woke up with contractions and just knew we were going to have to make other arrangements. Much to my disappointment, the labor slowed. My parents came anyways that afternoon and we just sat around and waited. That night I lost some more sleep due to contractions so I decided enough was enough, he was ready to come out my body just must be oxytocin-deficient. I had an induction scheduled for Friday the 3rd and knew my doctor was on call that Monday. I called her first thing that morning and begged her to let me come in to get checked. She agreed and Mom and I were off, in the truck, to the hospital. 

I got checked in to MAU and thankfully was at least having contractions, however it was definitely early labor. Dr. R. wasn't overly optimistic but agreed to let me stay and start Pitocin to see what I would do. I was so excited, even though I knew what was in store I was ready to have my baby. We started the Pitocin about 1:30 (oh and I was only 1cm and 50% effaced in MAU), I did some walking and began to have some good contractions. They continued to turn the Pitocin up every 30 minutes and at 3pm Dr. R. came in and broke my water...there was no turning back now! I was only 2cm. The labor intensified and I called Steven (who was at home taking a nap) and told him it was time to come in. He is a great husband but sort of shuts down during all this labor stuff, he hates to see me in pain. My Mom is a great doula, however, and doesn't leave my side. I stayed 2cm for most of the afternoon and did progressively worse with my contractions. Steven and Dad went to get some dinner about 6:15 and before my daytime nurse left I decided to get an epidural. By the time I got it, a little after 7:30, I was shaking constantly and unable to relax even between the contractions. 15 minutes after the epidural I had already progressed to 3.5cm (I am convinced I don't dilate well until I get the epidural). At 8:45 I was still 4cm so I tried to rest for awhile, which is hard to do mentally. We turned on the tv and watched the last few minutes of The Bachelorette, then Steven started watching The Office at 10. Dr. R. checked me again at 10:20 and I was 6-7, and with the next few contractions I was about to jump off the bed with pressure. The nurse checked me and calmly paged the doc that I was ready to push. Steven was at the moment laughing hysterically at a scene from The Office, but he did turn off the tv to watch the birth of his son. A couple pushes later and David was born at 10:41pm! They put him skin to skin, then did a quick weight/assessment, and brought him back to me. He nursed like a champ and was sweet from the word go. I am thankful that things worked out well, that he came out healty as my little May baby. He does look just like his Daddy, so watch out ladies in a few years! He is a blessing from the Lord and we are so thankful for another healthy baby.

I have a 4 year old? And 3 kids?

I can't believe that it has been 4 years now since Sadie entered our lives. What a happy day that was! For a good part of this pregnancy I thought that Sadie and David would share a birthday, but he decided to be my May baby instead (I will do his birth story with my next post). I'm glad it worked out that way that Sadie has her own day, and she probably is too. We had her party last weekend, a mere 14 kids and 12 adults, I guess it was no surprise that 48ish hours later I would have a baby. It has been a crazy week, but I want to pay tribute to my little girl. She is my firstborn, my social butterfly, my helper, and my "chocolate cake buddy". It has been a wonderful 4 years. I could write many many paragraphs about her but my new little man is not on board with that plan....will blog more later!

Daddy = protector

 I haven't blogged about Steven in a while, I'm sure it's time. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful husband and friend, and it's fun now to see him as a loving father. Sadie will frequently climb in our bed in the middle of the night, which I don't mind since she usually falls right back to sleep and isn't quite the wiggler she once was. I remember doing the same thing as a child, and actually, I wont tell you how old I was the last time I did it!

Last night, Sadie crawled in our bed and was more awake than usual. I heard her ask her Daddy if there were any scary things around. He gave her a sleepy answer and I chimed in too, although it became clear she was just talking to him. She said she was afraid of a witch. He very sweetly told her there was nothing to be scared of, and the Lord is with us, as well. I felt a little left out as I realized she had no intentions of snuggling with me.

However, I woke up in the early morning light to see her and Steven snuggled up on the same pillow, her asleep in his outstretched arm and holding onto his hand. I suddenly realized that Mom is not all-encompassing. She didn't need me at all last night, she needed him, her protector. I am so thankful that she, and we, have such a good one! 

Thank you Lord that we have a man in our home that protects, loves, and provides for us, showing us through these actions Your grace poured out on our family. 

Spring is here!

I haven't lef the blogging world, I've just been busy trying to finish all these last minute projects before little D decides to come. I'm pretty positive I wont go early with my history (9 days late with Sadie, 8 with Eli), but, I can't plan on it. We've had a fun few weeks....here the kids are at a Grasshopper's game (the minor league team in Greensboro). It isn't really about watching baseball anymore, Steven has realized, but the grassy lawn, snow cones, music, and awesome playground make it a fun family event.

We had a pre-Easter get together in Charlotte at my parent's house, 2 of my girlfriends and my sister-in-law came over with their kids to dye eggs, go on an Easter egg hunt, and make resurrection rolls. We had 10 kids 7 and under, it was great! Here are the 8 of them, not sure what happened to the other 2.... 

Steven and I got to take a nice trip to Sunset Beach for a couple nights, just the 2 of us, on a company trip. It was a sweet time together with good food and pretty sunshine, I can't lay out like I used to but I did manage to get a little sun on the arms. Mama always said "tan fat looks better than white fat" and I need whatever help I can get right now! :)

Last weekend my parents came up for the weekend, to visit but also to help with my latest project.....that has gotten me started on many home projects this week (nesting, maybe?). Apparently I am not very good at keeping the kids quiet while Steven works from home in his downstairs office. My personal opinion is no one could keep our 2 quiet for that long but the obvious answer to the problem was to move his office upstaris to the bonus room and move the kid's toys to the downstairs office, the "new bonus room" as Sadie now calls it. I told Steven it would be an easy move but I underestimated the amount of stuff he had collected in his office over the past 2 years. Thankfully, we got it done, and just a week later almost everything is into place. I had a thrilling day of organizing every toy in the house, unfortunately the kids want to play with them now, which messes everything up! They are not content, as I am, to just look at them in their rightful place. Oh well.

After a hard's day work last Saturday we enjoyed a lovely Mother's Day Sunday, here's a picture of 3 generations....I just hope the Mommy on the right can live up to the one on the left!  

Our sweet neighbors have given us many hand-me-downs, and this might win the prize for the Spring. They love this little jeep and Eli is quite content to ride in the passenger seat, for now, although I can't imagine he would be a worse driver then she is....

Typical girl....my Dad said, on the phone while driving and not paying attention!

As for little D, he's a busy as ever and puts on a quite a show at times. He was bouncing the hymn book all over my belly the other day at church, it's fun to watch. I've been getting the baby things out, including all the cute clothes....and it's making me excited to meet him! Less than 3 weeks now, and I'll take him anytime he wants to come. In the meantime I'll try to improve my blogging frequency....

The terrible 2s and a fun girl's weekend

 Last year some of my best girlfriends, Julie and Rachel, and I flew to Louisiana for a surprise trip to see our other friend Rachel who was about to get married. This year, she is expecting her first baby (a day after me!) so we decided to go see her again, this time in Georgia where her parents live. It was a shorter trip but the time spent with dear friends, minus kids, was priceless. Of course the subjects of conversation rarely veered away from our families, even though we were states away from them. I drove down to Charlotte Friday morning and the three of us spent a girl's day in Charlotte, a little shopping, a pedicure, and a yummy dinner at The Cheesecake Factory before heading to Columbia, SC, where we spent the night. The next morning we got up and drove the rest of the way to GA in time for Rachel B.'s baby shower and a few hours of visiting. I am so happy for Rachel and Reagan as they get ready to welcome their first little blessing into the world! They will be wonderful parents and are in for a good time. Here we are below at her baby shower, showing off our bellies!

The kids stayed mostly with my wonderful mother-in-law since Steven traveled to Richmond, VA, to speak at a youth rally there. They got to go to Charlotte and stay with Aunt Leslie, which is super-fun, especially since it included a soccer game and Chick-fil-a, as well as some amateur wrestling between Eli and Leslie's youngest. Since they got home Sadie has been saying that she doesn't really live with me, Eli is her cousin and I am her aunt. She also has a dog named Hooch (coincidentally that is Leslie's dog's name). She has not let up on her dog pleas, lately she has been promising that she will take care of it all by herself. The other day I told her I didn't have the money to pay for a dog and she immediately responded with "Daddy has money to get a dog, he takes all your money so he can buy a dog." I laughed for awhile at that one. She has actually been pretty grown-up acting lately, and Eli has been my handful. I should never have bragged about what a good sleeper he was....because he is starting to show his true colors with fussy bedtimes, early waking up, and faking naps. And of course, poor sleeping = whiny 2 year old. I was beginning to wish I could cap him out at how many times he can say "Mommy" in one day, especially with no real request. But then I laid down with his exhausted little self and watched him fall asleep and realized anew the blessing it is to raise a child. Or two, or three. God bless all you mommies! It's trying at times but wonderful all the same. Thank you, Lord, for the honor of raising these you've given me, for now. Goodnight!

Anniversaries and Birthdays!

This past weekend was great. Steven took the kids to Charlotte on Thursday afternoon since I had to work Thursday night and he was going down for work anyways. Obviously they had a great time, as always, at Nana and Papa's house.

 Friday I had a (routine) doctor's appointment then was able to sleep until Steven and I left for his TEST. Obviously, Sadie has very little concern (here she is while he is taking the test, helping Papa water the plants).

The dreaded exam that he had poured hours of his life into. It was a stressful and prayerfilled 2 hours and thankfully..... HE PASSED! I have my husband back and am so excited. And if he ever considers higher education I just might have to put my foot down. After that we headed down to Catawba, SC, to the Harmony House Bed and Breakfast. A lovely little B&B just south of Rock Hill, in celebration of our 7th anniversary. We went to downtown Rock Hill for a nice dinner, pulled through the Baskin Robbins drive thru for dessert, and had a delicious breakfast the next morning. I tried to upload pictures from the beautiful

Harmony House Bed and Breakfast but all I could get to work was the link. Check it out!

On the way back to my parent's house we found out that Eli had thrown up overnight....and Sadie was going to follow suit a little bit later. Unfortunately we had to postpone his party until the next day, but to be honest it was kinda sweet since they both just wanted me to hold them for several hours each. Even though sick kids are pitiful, unless they're in a whiny mood, it's also enjoyable.Thankfully by Sunday everyone was well so after church we had Eli's party. Here are most of us, 9 adults and 10 kids! And that's just family. Mama and Sadie had made the cake on Friday and decorated it with farm animals. After blowing out the candles (actually Bennett got to them first, we re-lit them so Eli could have a fair shot), we let every child pick an animal off the cake. That seemed exciting enough, I shouldn't have bothered to get party favors!

Here's my little man being shy during the Happy Birthday song, something Sadie never would do!

But he ended up a pretty happy guy! Happy Birthday to the sweetest 2 year old I know!

Pregnant Sadie and Girl's Night.

 As I know I've mentioned in the past, Sadie is very resistant to going to sleep. This is usually what her bed looks like when I go in to check on her and turn off her light. This was done with very little light, too, if you're wondering. The other night when my Mom was in town she went to check on her and told me to come up and bring my camera. Looking closer at her I realized what was so funny......

 Apparently Sadie is now expecting too....and not just 1, but 2 of her favorite stuffed animals! The next day I was at work and my Mom asked her about it. She put them back under her shirt then starting jumping around, saying that's how they come out. I wish.

 This weekend marks the annual guy's beach trip that Steven has planned for several years now, 8 maybe? (I posted about this trip last year in "boys will be boys...") Last year Jenn and Maegan came for a short visit during the beach trip so we decided to do it again this year. The more the kids multiply the more fun it is to get out of the house while our husbands are gone. This year 5 of us got together at my house on Friday afternoon with the kiddos, most of them spending the night (which meant 4 moms and 9 kids!). We had a total of 10 kids in the house, ages and 5 and younger. In a few years we might feel like the Duggars when we get together!

 We had three precious ones less than 6 months old and they were troopers, here they are on their baby mats, trying to survive the rest of the gang running around.

 Eli is quite outnumbered, as you can see. Evan (in the first baby picture) is only 4 months old but in a year or two will help balance out the girly-ness. He seems perfectly happy here, though!

Not sure where Sadie's clothes went (that was popular all weekend), but apparently it was time to chill out and read a book.

We had a great time together, thanks girls for being willing to pack up your families and bring them over! Sadie can't stop talking about her friends. Hopefully no one had any serious meltdowns and everyone got a good nap in Saturday. It was well worth it and I think we have us a tradition...