Snuggles for Chores

Today Matthew informed me that he is now expecting to be paid with kisses and snuggles for doing his chores every day. Approximately one hundred snuggles for a week of chores. Sweet!! Now that is my kind of currency!! ;0)

Matty's Beautiful Girls

We were getting ready to head out and I sat both girls down to do their hair and Matthew decides to throw out a Mattyism at the perfect time, "Why are you making my girls so beautiful today? Everyone will think they are too beautiful to stand it."

Awwwwww. Proof that Matty does in fact love his sisters. Good going on the compliments kid. I've taught you well.

Run 'til You Drop....

Phoebe is like a little energizer baby but when she is done, she is done. She drops wherever she can lay her head. So as a tribute to my little Smelly Cat I dug out some of my favorite sleepy time pictures of her. Ahhh.... She's so adorable.... even extra adorable when she's sleeping.

Sleeping Babies...

I am incredibly blessed beyond belief. I have three beautiful little babies that I adore more than life itself and I have an awesome husband that I love with all my heart. I seriously couldn't ask for anything more.

The Cutest Baby Birdie Ever!

I know a Birdie who goes tweet-tweet,

She is so cute and she is so sweet,

The cutest little baby you'll ever meet,

From the hair on her head to her itty bitty feet.

I love my Birdie , yes I do

I love my Beatrix baby's coo.

I Can't Handle the Cuteness!!!

Waking up in the morning and snuggling with my little rugrats is literally my favorite part of the day. Who can blame me?? They really are stinking adorable.

Daddy and his Baby Birdie

Ultimate proof that Beatrix is going to be a big Daddy's girl. She simply lights up when he comes home at night. Cooing and gurgling at him from across the room trying to get his attention. It's absolutely the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Phoebe better step up in the charming Daddy department if she wants to stay Daddy's #1 girl. At this rate Beatrix is going to cut both Phoebe and I out. ;0)

My Wild Little Goobers

They may be wild little goobers..... but they are MY wild little goobers.

Sometimes when I look at their little faces and feel their little pudgy arms wrapped around my neck it almost hurts to breathe I love them so much. Every smile and giggle is so precious to me. My greatest hope and prayer is that I will be a good Mom worthy of their love and trust.

Superbaby #3 is past the 12 week mark!!!

I had my 12 week appointment last week and the baby is doing fabulously. Shim is growing by leaps and bounds. It's crazy to think it has gotten so much bigger so quickly. The baby was doing log rolls during the sonogram. It didn't stop squiggling for more than a couple seconds at a time.

I can never get over what a miracle it is when you see that little life living and thriving inside of you. I can't help but see my little bean and be amazed by the grace of God. I truly feel so blessed and I praise God for all the good he has placed in my life.

Baby Bean on Board!!!!

It's totally crazy.... And we're absolutely thrilled. I couldn't be any happier about this new little baby. The baby's due date is actually the same due date that Phoebe had. Crazy as that is. But since this baby will have to be a c-section then we're planning on doing the c-section around November 2nd or 3rd so they don't end up with the same birthday.

I had a strong inkling I was going to be pregnant last month. I impatiently waited to take a pregnancy test for over a week. Then I took a test and it was negative. I was surprised because I thought with all my heart it was going to be positive. I waited another week and took another test and it was positive.

Kevin was a bit stunned. Big cheesy smile on his face. Then he insisted on going to the grocery store late at night to get more pregnancy tests to prove it wasn't just a fluke.

As he was checking out the checkout lady asked him if it was a good news or bad news. ( Who asks that by the way?? What was she expecting him to say??? What if the answer was my life will be devastated by a new child?? Seriously... that lady should rethink asking that question.)

Kevin thought she was a bit out of line and ballsy to be asking someone that question so he said- " It depends on whether my wife finds out about it." The lady's jaw dropped to the ground and then he started laughing and said " It will be very happy news. "

He came home and told me about it and I thought it was hysterical. We laughed up quite a storm while examining each pregnancy test in extreme detail. ;0)

We really are thoroughly excited about our new littlest bean.

My little Phoebe Bug....

My little bitty Phoebe Bug is here! Everything has been such a whirlwind. I feel as though I just found out I was pregnant but here she is already!

The birth went fairly well. I feel proud of myself for attempting my VBAC even if I failed in the end. I had gone into the whole thing with the determination that I would try my best and leave the rest up to God and that is what I did.

I will admit that I was very disappointed that I failed at first. I had been on pitocin all day and had been trying and trying and when the Dr. told me that we still hadn't progressed at all I was upset. I knew we were going to have to go for a c-section but when all of the surgeons flooded my room at the hospital I started to get a bit emotional. I totally started having flash backs to how awfully sick I was when I had Matty and it was all so overwhelming. I started to cry while the surgery nurses were asking me my medical questions and trying to prep me. I think I hid my tears fairly well and quickly rebounded with an optimistic attitude.

Being in any operating room is scary. It took my anesthesiologist two tries for my epidural and that actually really hurt like hell but otherwise he was very nice and super personable. He talked to me through the entire prepping time to keep me calm and after Kevin left with Phoebe, he was especially kind. Something that was kind of funny but calming at the same time was that his eyes were very similar to my Dad's... he even had the same kind of crazy eyebrows that used to make me smile.

The worst thing about the c-section was the way that your blood pressure drops during the surgery. The anesthesiologist had to keep shooting my iv with adrenaline to keep my bp up. That starts making you shake and you start feeling a bit paniky the harder you shake. Then right at the end while they are putting your intestines back in and basically welding you back together I always get sick to my stomach. They had to hold out a basin for me to throw up in and all the surgeons had to keep waiting for me to stop throwing up so they could resume and then I'd just end up throwing up again!!! They must have been getting pretty frusterated with my weak stomach!

The surgeons told me that it was actually a good thing we went for the c-section. The way Phoebe was pushing on my scar tissue from my previous c-section was basically a time bomb and if I had insisted on going further with the VBAC, I absolutely would have ruptured my uterus.

All in all, I'm delighted with the end result. Phoebe is so gorgeous and I've already recovered so well. What more could I ask for?? I never cease to be amazed by the way that God looks out for me. Little Phoebe is truly my little Thanksgiving baby!

Yikes!!! Water, Water everywhere!

Today was my due date and I had very little expectation of anything happening..... Yet somehow, my water managed to break while I was at the park with Matty and Elijah!!!! I was truly shocked. It wasn't really that bad at first so we still hung out for at least an hour or so just so the boys could play and I could walk around to try to get some contractions under way.

I called into the Dr. and was immiediately admitted to the hospital. However, after observing me for a couple hours he gave me the choice of sticking it out in the hospital or going home for awhile. And of course I chose to go home! Who wouldn't want to snuggle in their own bed.... use their own bathroom.... move freely without nurses complaining about you obstructing their baby monitors????!!!!

Everything just seems so surreal. I can't believe that soon I'll be holding our newest little baby! Craziness, craziness, craziness!!! I'm just praying for an easy and quick delivery... we'll see what happens!

Waiting for Baby.....

I had another appointment with the Dr. today and nothing seems to really be happening. He said that I've thinned out more than half way which is great but I'm not dilated at all. He could feel the baby's head when he was checking me so things are definately lining up the way they should.

He gave me the choice of opting for a c-section now but I told him that I'm still much more comfortable waiting for at least another week... Even if I don't end up going into labor by then, I'll be much happier with the resulting c-section if I gave my body a better window of opportunity to have the baby on my own. I know the risks of waiting too long to deliver and they are risks I'm willing to take.

He did a lot of extra poking around in an effort to kick start labor. Supposedly if it worked then I should be starting the labor process in two to three days. If it doesn't work then I'll be meeting with him again next Thursday to schedule my c-section probably for the following day.

I'm suddenly feeling really good about the prospect of going into labor over the weekend. I'm already starting to have more contractions since the appointment and I'm really encouraged that my cervix has thinned as much as it has. I think all I really needed was that little bit of encouragement. I'm feeling completely renewed in my resolve to wait as long as possible to let the baby come by itself. It starts to get quite tempting to just go ahead with a c-section because it just gets so wearisome to wait. It takes a lot of gumption to hang in there when you have such an easy out.

Hopefully, everything will run it's course as naturally as possible and no matter what, I'll be holding my new baby within days!!!!!!

Baby Naming Blues

Naming our little girl is going to be close to impossible... Kevin and I can't seem to agree on almost anything. On my part maybe it's hormonal but names that I liked when I was pregnant with Matty are suddenly repulsive to me and Kevin always has some off the wall reason to not like the names that I find even mildly acceptable.

I'm the first to admit that I'm kind of a name snob. There are dozens of names that practically make me gag.... and I dislike ninety percent of the girls names out there. Although I also admit to going through hormonal surges of loving names that the next week I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Example 1- I thought Margaret nn Maisy was darling for like three weeks, suddenly I can only picture Margaret as a middle aged woman and not a sweet little baby. Example 2- Suddenly I think the name Layla is lovely and coincidentally Kevin and I both love the song Layla by Eric Clapton... However in the back of my mind I know that Layla is really more of a stripper name than a real name. Not to mention the sexual connotations our little girl will battle- "Is Layla going to Lay ya????"

Anyways, this entire past week I have been practically in love with one particular name and I've actually loved this name since I was nine and reading Louisa May Alcott's Eight Cousins. I've pitched it to Kevin and had basically decided that this was the name I wanted for our little girl and that I was going to just start referring to the baby by this name every time that Kevin was around and make it incredibly clear that I was not going to negotiate.

I can tell Kevin is not crazy about it.... (mainly because he outright said- "I don't like it.") and I've decided I can't try to strong arm him in the baby naming process...I wouldn't feel right about trying to bully him into a name that I want, so in return for him keeping my name in the top three hospital choices I'll be willing to at least entertain his name suggestions.

As a sidenote.... Part of the reason I think I love this name so much is because I know that people are going to hate it. Is that so totally awful? Kevin's entire family is going to whisper behind my back and call eachother and say how awful our baby's name is... My mom will be ok with it once she understands where I originally got the name from. The Chicca's might cringe....I think that knowing everyone is going to react negatively is what is makes Kevin hesitate... But somehow all of that makes me just kind of secretly happy and gleeful... I must be a little evil... ( insert evil laugh here)

My sonogram is today!!!!!!

I'm going in for my sonogram today!!!!! I need to drop Matty off at my Mom's in twenty minutes.... I'm so excited!!!!! I have my fingers crossed that we'll be able to clearly see everything to determine the sex. No half way guessing for me!

I'm really strongly thinking it's another boy. Tony is thinking it's a boy too. Kevin has a strong inkling it's a girl..... So we'll see!!!!!

I had been really contemplating not finding out the sex of the baby so we could be surprised but Kevin wouldn't even entertain the idea. He really wants to know and there is no way I'll let the Dr. tell him and not me! Now that the day is actually here, I can't wait to know!

I better get going.... my bladder is going to burst already and this baby seems to think it's funny to use my bladder as a trampoline which just makes it so much worse....

Matty's 2nd birthday!!!!!

My little Matty is 2 years old today!!! Time just flies by so quickly. I can't stand that he is getting so big so quickly. I know Kevin thinks that I am being extra sappy and sentimental... especially considering the fact we're going to have a new baby soon for me to fuss over. But I can't help but feel sad that he's growing up so quickly. He'll always be my baby.... my little guy Matty. It doesn't matter if I have ten more children.... he'll always have that very special place in my heart that claims him as mine.

12 wks Preggers Already!!!!!

I am officially 12 wks pregnant!!!! I had my first Doctor's appointment and everything is going great!!!! I heard our baby's little heartbeat and saw him on the sonogram. We obviously don't actually know if it is a boy or a girl yet but I can't seem to help but refer to the baby as a he. Kevin keeps teasing me that it must be a boy if I inexplicably always call the baby by he or him.

It was just so amazing to see our baby so little and perfectly formed. I can see his arms and his little legs all squiched up... I can see his little feet. If I look really carefully I can see where his eyes are and his little bitty mouth. It's amazing. It's things like this that really glorify the awesomeness of God. Nothing is as beautiful and miraculous as a baby growing in it's mother's womb.

Seeing my baby for the first time was just yet one more affirmation of God's grace and wisdom. There is already a plan laid in place for my newest little one.... I can't help but wonder what he'll be like. Will he be stubborn? Will he love to giggle and be silly? Will he be ticklish under his knees like Matty? This little baby has already brought so much joy to my heart.... and he's not even born yet!

As of tomorrow, it will have been a full year since my Dad died. In fact last year he had died on a Saturday and so for some reason it really feels like this anniversary should be today not tomorrow.....Maybe that is why I couldn't sleep last night....Anyways- What I'm really getting at is that it is a year later and I am just as certain of God's divine plan now as I was then. It doesn't mean that I don't feel sad or think about my Dad. I probably always will, but at the same time I feel peace within myself because I understand the whole picture. The grace and mercy of the Lord is astounding.

New Baby on the Way!!!!

I am so thrilled about all of the new little happenings in my life. Last week I found out that I was seven weeks pregnant and I feel like I'm floating.... kind of an icky throwing up sort of floating but floating nonetheless.

I am really excited about the new baby. I think I'm even more excited about this one than with Matty. I was excited when I was pregnant with Matty but I also had a lot of anxiety too. When Matty was born we had to change our entire lifestyle. Now we are totally baby friendly and I have no hesitation about welcoming our new little one.

My Mom was totally thrilled with the news and I can just tell that this is going to be great.

We're in just such a good spot right now. We're finally wrapping up all the paperwork and stuff from Grandma and Dad's deaths. The semester is at a close for me. Kevin has a great new job that practically guarantees that we'll be set within the next few years. We're going to start looking into buying a house. Things are just good. :)

The Baby Wants!!!!!

The baby wants must be catching because I think I've got it!!!!!!!!! It all started when my best friend and her husband decided to start trying. We had always sworn that by the time she was ready for her first that I'd be ready for my second!! We really wanted to have babies close to eachother in age so they could play and become best buds too!!
I was really disappointed that we wouldn't be preggers together.... They're not exactly actively trying for a baby but they're not planning on preventing one either!!!!

Everytime I turn around someone is either pregnant, has just had a new baby or is professing the baby wants!!!!!!! I find myself contemplating what I will name my next baby.... or where I would put a second baby dresser.... It's INSANITY!!!!!! Matty won't even sleep in his own bed and I'm contemplating a new one!!!!!! I must be mental!!!!! We just seem to manage expenses right now..... I'm still in school and need to start plotting out my student teaching...I can't possibly envision another baby....
( But yet in my head he's a darling little pudgy boy who looks a lot like Matty but with darker hair and an endearing little dimple.... A little chubby love-a-bug named Caleb or Shamus perhaps???!!!!!)

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! How does one cure the baby wants without actually getting a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!