The first of many.

We took our first official family vacation as a family of 6. Steven usually rolls his eyes when I use the terms "this is the first time...." or "but this is the last time we'll do this!" usually because there's emotion associated with those statements. However, this time, he was the one to use the infamous words. As I stressed about packing and getting ready for our trip, amidst my first shift back to work, he said "you're stressed about going on vacation? Baby, this is the first of many little family vacations we're going to take, it will be fun!" Well, after this one I hope he still plans on taking more...vacation with 4 kids 5 and under needs another word. The definition of 'vacation' implies relaxation, sleeping in, long leisurely walks on the beach. While we had none of that, we did have a great time!  A few days before we left Steven was asked to speak in Richmond, VA, so we changed plans a little and left on Saturday to go with him, the church is always a blessing for us to visit and has a little "apartment" in the church that the kids love to stay in. Here's a pic of my boys Sunday eating lunch between services. 

 And here's my girls! Matching dresses thanks to my sister-in-law!

 After 5 hours in the car we finally made it to Myrtle Beach! Mary Jo is not a great traveler but she did pretty well, we actually had some time where all 4  were asleep! Poor Daddy had to unload the car all by himself so the kids decided they needed to try on their nametags. I should have made them wear them all the time...I actually lost D a couple times (once he didn't make it off the elevator, and another time he darted into the room across the hall while it was being cleaned). Thankfully neither time lasted too long so I didn't have time to panic. It has caused a couple nightmares, though! 

 The weather wasn't great so we spent most of the time in the indoor pool, which the kids loved. I tried my best to get them to swim in the outdoor pool while Mary Jo was napping with Steven and the sun was out (I really could use some sun, as Mama always says "tan fat looks better than white fat"), but they had already been in the indoor pool and knew it was warmer. I put up with whining for the sun for about 15 minutes then finally gave in and gave up on my dreams of a tan. Here's a pic of a little beach time in the rain.

D wasn't quite sure about the sand. 

 Or maybe he was just tired. 

 Mary Jo is such a trooper! 

 Luggage cart? No, to my kids it's a mobile gymnasium. 

 That afternoon we went to Broadway at the Beach and ate at Johnny Rockets, the kids loved watching them dance. Afterwards we got ice cream then let the kids throw darts at balloons - $10 for 3 stuffed animals worth no more than a dollar or two, but the kids really thought they did something. 

 Eli's hands are really big! :)

 The pack -n -play didn't fit in the bathroom so we had a portable crib on each side of the room. Since David hasn't ever slept in the same room with anyone we draped a curtain over his bed, but he's 1, not stupid, so he knew we were right there. He was so cute peeking his head out every morning. 

 The last afternoon we went to the boardwalk, "official Myrtle Beach" as Steven says. There was a few too many loud bikes for my liking but we held on tight to the kids, found a pizza joint and an arcade, and had a good time. We decided to try this newish thing called the Skywheel, pictured below.

 We sat in glass-enclosed seats and went really high, Eli LOVED it.

 We put on a brave face but we were pretty happy when the ride was over. 

 Mary Jo finally gave up on a nap in her bed and zonked out in the baby carrier. 

 The last night I finally grabbed a hotel employee to take a family picture - you gotta have at least one on vacation! Here we are, "fancied up" as Sadie likes to call it, going out to dinner. Notice Eli's sleeveless shirt, he doesn't get quite as excited as Sadie with dressing up. 

 We decided to splurge a little and took the kids to a Japanese Steakhouse. We had never taken our kids there and I thought it would be fun for them to watch the "show". They had fun and ate better than I had expected, especially D. Sadie enjoyed the chef so much that when he was finished she asked if we could take him home. D was working on his 3rd bowl of sherbert and I told him he ate "like a king!" which he kept repeating after that with big inflection. He really is becoming the ham of the family, he keeps us laughing. 

It was a great week, the kids got a lot of swimming in, and we made some sweet memories. It was also exhausting. There was a couple mornings I was by myself with all 4 and people I didn't know were offering to help me. I guess we don't have it together very well, and it shows, but we're doing our best! As for the next couple trips we have planned we thankfully have grandparent back-up, which will be soooooo nice. And safer. Our kids are wild but happy, energetic, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Most of the time. In a few short years our vacations will go back to sleeping in, lounging at the pool, and hotel rooms without candy trash (no, actually Steven produces most of that)....and while we'll enjoy that time together we'll probably talk about our crazy family ones, hopefully many more to come! 

Harrell Funnies

A few conversations in our family this week have made me laugh out loud, so I thought I'd share them. Sometimes these things aren't funny repeated, if that's the case I do apologize. I'm also blogging with Mary Jo in my lap and this is her high maintenance time of night, so this might be brief.

I've been volunteering in Sadie's class recently (which is one laugh after another, really), and the other day the teacher was doing a lesson on the difference between turtles and tortoises. On the way home I was telling Sadie that I learned some things in her class that afternoon that I didn't know about turtles. She responded "Well I guess you didn't listen very well when you were in Kindergarten."

Eli is pretty obsessed with Steven's new jeep, especially since we took the top off. If I can't find him, there's a good chance he's in the garage playing on the jeep. This morning on the way to preschool our conversation went like this.
Eli - "Why does Daddy have 3 cars?"
Me - "Good question, buddy."
Eli - "When I get bigger, Daddy can just drive his car, David can drive the pick up truck, and I can drive the jeep."
Me - "What about Sadie and Mary Jo? What will they drive?"
Eli - "Um....they can ride with us."

I can't leave out my fiesty #3 as he is quite the conversationalist these days. On Tuesday I ran into Starbucks to get a couple gift cards for Teacher's Appreciation Week, and while there David grabbed an applesauce (right at eye level, darn marketing), I.was holding Mary Jo and trying to pay for the cards, but had to get it out of his hand before he opened it. Unfortunately, right as I took it from him a police officer walked up and said hi to him....he was furious at me for taking away his food so he took it out on her and yelled "Stop it! Shush!" I wanted to go through the floor, instead I mumbled an apology, grabbed his hand and got out of dodge. I pray he gains a little fear and respect for authority in his 3rd year of life.


That night I made a new recipe, "Spring Green Fried Rice" from Better Homes and Gardens. I thought it was good but noticed Steven just picked at it. This is the conversation that followed.
Me - "So you didn't like the fried rice?"
Steven -"You know I don't like onions, and there was more onions than chicken."
Me - "There was no onions or chicken in it."

I hope you've laughed with your family this week! Goodnight.

Life

No real subject tonight, I just felt like blogging and had some new pictures to share. I don't talk about this enough, but the Lord has been so good to our family. I've been studying the life of Joseph in Bible Study Fellowship (awesome bible study for ladies), and how the Lord was with him even in his darkest, most trying, times. I am not trying to compare my life to Joseph's, by any means (for those who aren't familiar with the story from Genesis he was sold into slavery by his brothers at 17, thrown out of his master's house into prison after being falsely accused of rape, then forgotten in prison by those he had helped). Despite those trials he always trusted the Lord and where ever he went people recognized the Lord was with him. The other day I went to Aldi's with my 3 youngest and thought I was all prepared; I had my bags (they don't provide those), a stroller for the baby (which Eli was going to push for me), and a working debit card (they don't take credit). On the way there I realized, however, that I forgot my quarter....which you have to have to use a buggy. I didn't know what to do but pray that someone would let me use their buggy, possibly, after they were done. Shopping without a buggy was not an option. I pulled up in the parking lot and as soon as I stepped out of the car a lady asked me if I wanted to use her buggy. I was amazed, and told her the Lord was using her to answer my prayers. I tearfully proceeded in and was blessed even more to have a friend in the store who had just 1 child and was very Aldi-savvy, she helped me bag the groceries and get my 3 safely back out to the car (after Eli fell and pulled down the stroller, thankfully not dumping Mary Jo out since she was strapped in the car seat) . All that to say the Lord is good and faithful, in the big and small issues of life, and I hope to share more of that with this blog. Here's some recent pictures of 4 of my blessings....

Sadie had "fun day" at her school, it brought back memories of my childhood.

She does know how to have fun!

 I have been able to volunteer some in her classroom lately and have loved being in there. I have felt kind of out of the loop in her life this year with her starting school so I am enjoying seeing what her every day looks like. As an added bonus (and probably not a coincidence) her behavior has also improved!

Eli's enjoying soccer more, but he's still far from being any kind of soccer star. This is how he starts out.....

And this is how he finishes the game....distracted (and usually hanging from the goalposts).

Steven has fulfilled a near 20 year dream of owning a jeep, which will mainly be used to drive to the bank, post office, and pool. Here we are picking Sadie up at the bus stop (just at the end of the road), pretty exciting (not safe) to ride not only in a booster seat but also with no roof! I did make them buckle up for the 200 feet we drove.  

I can't believe this little guy is almost 2! He's talking up a storm and so funny. Here he is after his "hairtut", Grandpa took him and will from now on as he reportedly only shed 1 tear! (when I took him he screamed the whole time). Go Grandpa!! 

He is paying more attention to Mary Jo lately, he calls her "Ay Jo". 

Here he is tonight giving her a kiss.

And here's my little sweetness! Not quite 12 weeks old.

Not so sure about all this.

We love these sweet smiles!!!!!

I hope you and yours can count your blessings tonight, as well! Goodnight! 

Those people are crazy

Friday night we decided to have a little family night and go to a baseball game. We get lawn seats, spread a blanket, let the kids run around, watch a little (sometimes no) baseball, and eat cotton candy. It usually makes for a fun night and Mary Jo did great. She is 2 months old now and is a pretty easy-going baby. The next day Steven's aunt and uncle came to watch Sadie's soccer game and told us a funny story. The night before they had met some friend's downtown to go walking, and they walked past a mini-van. They looked inside and saw 4 carseats and remarked about how crazy that was, the friend spoke up and said "Yes, I saw them getting out earlier with all these little children!" It didn't take Steven's aunt long to figure out that it was our van and our little ones they were talking about. I took a picture a stoplight this morning on the way to church. You can't see Mary Jo's carseat too well but she's in there! 

 Since that conversation I've been thinking about the fact that I have 4 children in car seats. Granted, Sadie is almost 6, but she's just 38 pounds so we haven't moved her up to a booster yet. I know a lot of families that have as many or more children than we do so I don't really think it's crazy to have 4 kids 5 and under. It has been a bit overwhelming, though, to say the least (hence the lack of blog posts for the last couple of months). A lot of people told me during my pregnancy that "Oh, after the 3rd baby that 4th one doesn't rock the boat at all." Well, my 4th one about sank our boat. Not to speak badly about our sweet girl, she is a blessing and it's not her fault that her mama just can't quite get it together. As a wise friend said when I asked how she was managing her 4, "the house stays messy and we take less showers." We'll get there. 

 One feat I have managed is that as of the last couple of days we are down to 1 bottle a day - she is finally able to nurse well and I'm so thankful! We have one more weight check tomorrow and I'm hoping she'll be at least 8 pounds, last week she was 7-13. 

This is one of Mary Jo's favorite place, it gives me my hands and usually puts her to sleep pretty well! 

In other news....my sweet Eli turned 4! Steven's good friend made him this awesome cake for our 

Toy Story party, he was a happy birthday boy. I remember my Mom saying at his birth that it was love at first sight, and he has definitely been a Mama's boy from the beginning. He is growing up though and I don't get quite as many snuggles or "I want you"s, but I do love his sweet spirit and kind heart and pray that we can continue to nurture those things. 

Along with the mini-van full of car seats (I used to swear I would never drive a mini-van, I'm sure I've blogged about that before), in the last week and a half I have also become a "soccer Mom". I put it off as long as possible but this year both Sadie and Eli have started playing. Steven is coaching Eli's team. If you've never watched 4 year olds play soccer....you should, for entertainment purposes alone. There's a couple kids on Eli's team that are pretty good so the rest of the kids just run after them. Neither of my children have shown any great athleticism at this point but we're hoping for some improvement, at least they're having fun, which is truly the goal. Eli gets tired and wanders off the field towards the end of the game, and Sadie flashes a smile towards her audience any time she runs by. The run through the parent-made tunnel is pretty exciting but the highlight of the whole day is the post-game snack. It's funny, these things I never thought I would do, like taking strollers to Disney World, driving a mini-van, or becoming a soccer mom, have been some of my favorite times. I know I'm way past being cool but I think I'm also a lot happier in life.I almost forgot to post a picture of Mary Jo! I'll end with this...goodnight!

The Story of Mary Jo

DISCLAIMER: This is a birth story, so read at your own risk! I'll try not to get too graphic. This little girl has been stressing me out this last month or so of pregnancy - and unfortunately her birth was no different. The plan was for me to be induced at 39 weeks, so my parents came up on Sunday night, the 10th. I already mentioned this but it was nice to have things in order before the big day. We even made a reservation at The Melting Pot and took my parents out to celebrate my Dad's retirement (back in November) - we didn't eat until 8 so I could tuck my kids in bed first. It was a sweet time and I enjoyed my last pregnant meal to the max. Thanks Benne for watching the kids!! 

Congratulations Daddy on your retirement! I hope we look that good when we retire! 

The next morning Steven and I were up and out early, arriving to the hospital at 6:30am. An IV, labwork, Pitocin, Dr. came in and broke my water....finally my contractions got going around 9am. Mom stayed home to get Sadie and Eli off to school, then came to the hospital around 9:30, Daddy stayed home with David and took care of the household the rest of the day. Like all my labors, I progressed slowly. I got my epidural around  1:45pm and it was a good one. I tried to rest some. Mary Jo did great with labor initially, but around 5pm she started having trouble. Like Sadie during labor, her heart rate would decelerate every time I had a contraction. We tried different positions and oxygen. Dr. Richardson came in and determined that her head wasn't positioned right, which is probably why I hadn't fully dilated yet. She stayed with me for the next hour or so (don't think I would have gotten that with any other OB!) and made sure her heart rate stayed up during the contractions. I flipped every which way trying to get her to turn (which is pretty interesting with an epidural dead leg). I was getting pretty anxious and hurting worse and worse but all the sudden it was time to try and push. I've never had to push for long with my other babies but this time I felt like it was important to get her out fast. Thankfully, I did! She was born at 8:18pm, a little blue but she cried right away. Her little cord was short which may have been the problem with her growth and with labor. I was never so thankful to have labor over with! 

  She is my smallest baby by far - 5 pounds, 7 ounces, 18 1/2 inches long. But perfect in every other way! I was smitten immediately. 

Unfortunately, our first night in the hospital had a little more excitement than I would have liked. Mary Jo's blood sugar dropped so I made the emotional decision to give her some formula, feeling pretty sure she would be admitted to the NICU if I didn't. Simultaneously I was having a post-partum hemorrhage, I passed  out in the bathroom about 2am and got another visit from my doctor a couple hours later. After some more IV fluids and meds for me to stop the bleeding, and 2 small bottles of formula for Mary Jo - I was able to get up without passing out and Mary Jo's blood sugar was up. 

Sadie came that morning with my parents (we let her go to school a little late) and she was so excited to meet her. She brought her a homemade card and a couple of her toys. 

 With our rough night I hadn't done much to myself - thankfully Sadie wasn't put off by the IV and pale puffy Mama.  

 Eli and David went to BSF that morning with my mother-in-law, so thankfully I had time to get a shower and look a little more "normal" before the boys came. Eli climbed up on the bed, looked at her, and said "we need to take her home and put her in her crib." After that he didn't pay her much attention. We couldn't even get David to sit for a picture with her, he looked at her in my Mom's arms one time and said "Ew...trash." 

Here we are on Thursday after coming home - this is a good reflection of D's feelings. 

 I can not believe I have 4 children! 

 I am in love with my little sweetness. 

And so is her big sister! She loves to hold her. She's gotten to feed her a bottle, help with bath and diaper changes, and has been pretty helpful. Unfortunately Mary Jo hasn't taken off with the nursing like my other babies did. Her mouth, like the rest of her, is tiny. She was also tongue tied, which I decided to have it clipped. It was much rougher on me than her, I think, and thankfully it has helped with nursing. She's still preferring the bottle but is doing more and more nursing every day - hopefully we'll transition to all nursing in the next few weeks. Right now I'm pumping 3-4 times a day, plus nursing, plus supplementing, so it's pretty exhausting. My Mom stayed with me until yesterday, which was a huge help, by kid # 4 I have learned to accept help in pretty much any form. 

As for the boys they are adjusting fairly well. I can't trust D for a second with her - he isn't mean but his fine motor skills are lacking and he can be pretty rough. He is a little rascal, too, one of his favorite activities is to find her paci and run away with it in his mouth. Eli seems a little indifferent, which is probably typical for a 3 year old boy. He has been a little weepy lately (not as much as me) so I think he is struggling a little more than we realized. Steven took the big 2 kids to Richmond, VA, on Saturday for a trip - he was speaking the next morning at a church there. They ate a ridiculous amount of candy, saw a movie, and had a blast. It was good for Eli to spend that time with his Daddy, and I've tried to squeeze in some 1 on 1 time with him (near impossible). 

I think Mary Jo is going to be the perfect little caboose for this Harrell train. She might be the runt, but she's a sweet little thing. The Lord is so good, and I am beyond blessed to hold these 4 sweet babies in my arms every day. 

Ugly ankles

Pregnancies are so different, it seems. When I was expecting Sadie, my first, I felt great. I remember going to work when I was 40+ weeks (I worked a full 40 hours that week, climbing stairs whenever I had down time), and one of the doctors asked me if I was "showing off" my ankles. I was wearing some closed toe heels to go with my skirt, and I didn't really get it, but obviously I had no swelling. It just took one more baby for me to understand the swelling thing. I was showing Sadie tonight that disgusting "sock dent" that I have at the end of every day, and I said "Sadie, look at Mommy's ankles!" She answered "I can't see them!" She does offer to massage my hands and legs, which is so sweet, and tries to help me up, which is a joke since I weigh probably 5 times what she does. The good news is I think I've at least peaked with my weight - it hasn't changed in the last 3 weeks - and hopefully I will never be that high again!  I have continued to go in to the doctor's office at least twice a week for monitoring since she's supposedly small - and the plan is to be induced next Tuesday, the 12th, unless I go into labor before then. I am having some contractions, but nothing that is going anywhere. I've needed Pitocin with every baby, even my first two who I waited over a week to go into natural labor with, so while I would love to just go into labor and have this little girl a few hours later, it probably would never happen. And there are definite advantages to planning the date - I can get my house clean, do the laundry, plan meals for the week, and make sure my parents are here, etc. Plus, I'm really trying to enjoy my kiddos before chaos begins, Sadie has been doing better this week with her behavior but I'm fully expecing a relapse when the baby comes. And poor D, he is clueless as to how his little world is getting ready to change. Thankfully, he wont remember it. Eli seems ok, pretty excited that his Charlotte grandparents and maybe even cousins might come up when she gets here. I really can't complain, I've figured out how to sleep without making my hands ache too bad, and I can tell she's not huge as I've just started to waddle. Thankfully it's winter so I don't have to actually show my fat ankles to anyone. I will try to be grateful that I have now experienced most of the "joys" of pregnancy, and truly I am thankful. Lord willing I will be holding my sweet girl in my arms in just a few short days, with 3 other little rascals that call me Mommy, and a sweet guy who has made it all possible. The Lord is good!

Hard Mommy Week

This has not been one of my favorite weeks of motherhood, I have to admit. I've had sick, whiny, boys and Sadie has not dealt very well with the attention that has been taken from her...so much so that she has I think willed herself to also be sick. We had to have a parent-teacher conference for Sadie today at the end of the 2nd quarter, apparently she has lost the desire to please her teachers a little and her behavior has been less than par for about a month now. It is humbling to hear her shortcomings and realize they sound a lot like Steven and I's, combined. I am hoping with the knowledge that we are going to hear about her day, every day, from her teacher's perspective, will be enough to encourage better behavior. She was certainly threatened with plenty of consequences by her daddy (I don't know how people raise strong willed children without fathers, I pray I never have to). When Steven was in Kindergarten or 1st grade he had a lot of problems at school - enough so that his parents took ALL of his toys away at one point. Unfortunately, we both have strong wills so she has gotten a double dose of "I'm going to do what I want to do." Pray for us. I don't think I realized how hard this Mom job would be, I don't mean cleaning up vomit or picking up an entire bowl of macaroni and cheese off the floor - but dealing with these heart issues gets me. You have this baby who is just perfect, they turn into an adorable toddler, then a few years later they're being defiant at school?? I know all my children are just normal kids, sinners at best, but what appears to be a digression of character is hard to watch. I start wondering what I'm missing, what I'm doing wrong, will she ever recover from me having another baby? My dad is the oldest of 4 and he turned out pretty great, didn't seem to resent his parents, so hopefully Sadie has a chance. For now, my only answer is to go snuggle with her in our bed, where I let her fall asleep since she's now "sick".