Growing, growing, growing!

Little Miss Sarah Grace is getting bigger! She's also apparently taken the princess notion to heart and has refused to be put down for the better part of 5 days (and 3+ nights). Really, she's had some tummy trouble that had improved but then came back with a vengeance and a stuffy nose that makes it hard for her to breathe when she's not being held upright, but she seems to be getting better.  The lack of sleep means that I don't have a whole lot of words to string together in any kind of coherent manner, but I do have some pictures to share.

I managed to put her down a little bit last week without upsetting her and got these:

(Mandy, do you recognize the pink blanket?)

She really is changing every day, showing us more and more of who she is. So far, we think she favors Eli in appearance and Sam in disposition... Heaven help us if she grows eyelashes like Eli's and Sam's sweetness that can so easily manipulate!

I love seeing each new glimpse of her personality, but at the same time I hate how quickly her newborn days are passing us by.  Please excuse me as I snuggle to my heart's content and try to soak up all the newborn sweetness I can!

(The boys and Grant are doing great, too.  I'll try to get some pictures of them to share soon.)

Sarah Grace is here!

... Or as Eli likes to tell everyone, "Sarah Grace is OUT!"

Her birth story (thankfully!) doesn't involve a lot of drama, but I'll record it here so I can remember.

It all started a little over a week before Christmas.  Grant and I went to my 37 week check up with our bag in the car, just in case.  My doctor (whom I LOVE) hesitated and frowned like she was really weighing our options for a long time after every single thing she checked but then decided that there wasn't quite enough reason to induce.  Then she told us to be sure to bring our bags to my next appointment (which she moved to first thing in the morning) and for me to go ahead and not eat or drink anything after midnight the night before.  We left the office with me feeling very nervous and Grant sure that she would come on her own that weekend.  

The weekend came and went with no labor while we made final preparations.  Grant cleaned out our car and moved the boys' car seats to the very back so that he could install Sarah Grace's.  I made a wreath for the hospital door.  I also made a bow to match her "going home dress" and clipped it onto the hat that each of our boys and their cousin Allie wore home from the hospital.  

Our long-awaited appointment finally arrived and although the ultrasound looked okay and my blood pressure was better than it had been, my sweet doctor was still concerned and started using words like placental insufficiency and IUGR before informing us that that day would be Sarah Grace's birthday.  In case you're wondering, those words were not what this former newborn nurse wanted to hear but I was glad that my doctor and I were on the same page about inducing at that point instead of waiting.  I also had to laugh a little bit at the fact that it looked as though she'd be arriving on the date that I'd picked months before, even though I wasn't in labor.

We headed over to L&D and I got checked in while Grant went to get our bags.  After I got changed into my beautiful green hospital gown, I realized that we'd forgotten to take the birth day belly picture so I changed back into my clothes for a quick pic.

Grant texted everybody at about 10:30 to let them know where we were.  Then my nurse got me checked in and started the Pitocin at about 11:30.  The doctor on call came by and broke my water at about 12:30 and declared me to be 2-3 cm dilated and 50% effaced.  We started getting text messages at about 2:30 from people asking if she was here yet and I told Grant I thought she'd be here at about 7:00.  Over the next few hours, my contractions were every 2 minutes and extremely strong (my strip looked like a Christmas tree farm!), but when I was re-checked, I had progressed to a whole 3 cm and 70%...  Awesome.  I think it was about 4:30 when I told my nurse, "I think an epidural sounds like fun."  

I got my epidural at around 5:00, which worked well for the left half of my body and not at all for my right.  At 5:30, my nurse told me that my doctor was coming and would be there in about an hour.  I told her I'd be ready to push by the time she got here but I'm pretty sure she didn't believe me. The anesthesiologist came back at about 6:00 to give me medicine to help my right side, just as I started feeling a lot of pressure and knew that Little Miss was ready.  

My mom and sister (after whom Sarah Grace is named) had spent the day in L&D with us and although it wasn't the plan, I surprised myself and told them that they were welcome to stay for the delivery if they wanted.  Then I think they surprised themselves when they said they would like to!

My doctor got there at a little after 6:30 and declared me ready and said we'd try a practice push with the next contraction.  I did for about 2 seconds before everybody started telling me to stop so that they could get ready.  I laughed while my doctor hurried to put her gown on and everybody else scrambled.  

Once they got ready, we waited for another contraction, and I pushed about 3 times and then reached down to catch my precious baby girl and put her on my chest.  I hadn't really planned to do that but my sweet doctor didn't seem to mind one bit.  She clamped the cord, Grant cut it, and I put her skin to skin with me, all while laughing and saying, "I can't believe that's it... she's really here!"

Everything in those first moments is a blur, but I remember thinking she was absolutely beautiful and perfect.  I also remember that we were all surprised that she didn't look like either of her big brothers and she didn't sound like them either.  Her little cry was so sweet and girly, she sounded almost like a tiny little kitten!

She did great... She weighed 5 lbs. 15 ozs. and measured 19 1/2 in. long with a 33 1/2 cm head circumference.  Birth time was 6:49 pm.

Mom and Sarah celebrated with us, called my dad, and took pictures for a few minutes and then left with the nurses so we could have some time with just us.  We took turns holding, kissing, and breathing prayers of thanksgiving over her, then Grant called his mom (who was at our house with our boys) to let her know while I fed Sarah Grace for the first time.

I know this sounds weird, but I really want to remember how much I loved the way she smelled...  As in I couldn't get enough of it and even loved the way I smelled like her from holding her on my chest.  (Incidentally, it was the sweetest smell I've ever smelled, but other people's babies never smelled like that when I worked at the hospital... Either it's one of those new mommy things or my baby is just extra special in the way she smells!) Yes, I'm weird, but my nose was stopped up when each of the boys was born so this was my first experience with sniffing my newborn!

Sorry to burden you with my weirdness.  Maybe some more pictures would help...

Because it was so late, Eli and Sam had to wait until the next morning to meet their little sister (and Ms. Dot had to wait too, since she was the one who so graciously volunteered to keep the boys, but she was a really good sport about it!).  

They were so excited and sweet! Sam was really happy to see his Mommy but he was also very sweet with Sarah Grace and even kissed her head and asked to hold her as soon as he finished hugging me.  Eli has been excited since the moment we told him we were expecting so of course he was wonderful.  He held her and talked to her and kissed her over and over.

We are so incredibly blessed to have all 3 of these precious babies.  I told Grant the other day that I wanted more children but didn't think I could handle it because I'm already about to explode with all the love I feel for each one of them.

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.   James 1:17

Welcome to our world, sweet baby girl.  We are so glad you're here!

Two days late and a whole lot short!

Ever get behind and then overwhelmed and then alternate between trying to forget the thing you need to catch up on and working on it a little bit and then being totally overwhelmed all over again?

Yeah... me neither.

So, I started this blog with intentions of posting pictures of my sweet boys and updates on the funny things they do.  Then I tried a few posts.  Then I got busy or tired or writers block or left the pictures on the camera or something and didn't update for a really long time! Then I thought, "Hey, in a couple months, it will have been a year since I last updated! Maybe I should just wait til then and do a giant-monster-year's-worth-of-stuff-update?" Then I missed it.

Ugh.

So anyway, let's try this again...

Thankfully, the past year has been absolutely wonderful and the lack of updates was not due to stress or hardship... We were just too busy having fun!

Maybe I should just do a list... 

Top 10 Significant Things That Have Happened Since The Last Post (In Somewhat Chronological Order):

1.  The boys turned 1 and 3 in November.  We were going to have a big combined birthday party at our house but (literally) when Eli was "helping" me make the invitations, he informed me that he really, REALLY didn't want a big party with lots of people.  He just wanted to go to the zoo with a few of his best buddies.  So that's what we did for him.  I had originally wanted to have their party at the zoo, but was too afraid of what the weather would be like.  It turned out to be a perfect day for a picnic and lots of fun at the zoo.  

Sam's party was the following weekend and since he couldn't tell me otherwise, we invited some friends over and had his little party at home.  It was sweet and fun to have all of our friends over and try to visit while all the kiddos ran wild trying out Sam's birthday presents!

2.  I turned 30 and lived to tell about it. We had a little family get together at my parents house (complete with my favorite meal and my favorite cake!) and Grant and my parents surprised me with a sewing/ embroidery machine that I had been coveting for months.  Then, the weekend of my actual birthday, we got to go visit Grant's family for Ms. Dot's 70th birthday.  1 sweet mom + her 3 kids + 3 in-laws + 7 grandkids = crazy fun!

3.  Sam got his first ear infection sometime in October.  He had been determined to walk but we noticed he just couldn't keep his balance, and although he never had any other symptoms besides being fussy at bedtime and a little clingy sometimes during the day, we took him to his doctor and found out that both of his ears were infected, but neither of them looked too bad.  

Well, after 3 months of no response to countless rounds of broad spectrum antibiotics, he got tubes.  I was not too thrilled with the idea of anesthesia for my sweet baby, but was so relieved to know that he almost instantly (after the anesthesia meds wore off!) felt much better.  After a couple days of letting his ears drain, his balance returned and he has not slowed down since!

4.  We found out we're expecting baby #3!

I actually took the pregnancy test one Sunday morning before church and was so excited I couldn't keep my entire face from smiling or my hands from shaking.  Grant was already at church, so I spent all day trying to think of a fun creative way to tell him but by bedtime I still hadn't found the perfect way and couldn't hold it in any longer, so I whispered in his ear, "I have a secret!" He immediately knew what it was and we spent a long time just laying there giggling and whispering our shared sweet excitement.

5.  A month or so later, after our first OB appointment, we were getting ready to tell our families and decided we should probably tell Eli first.  We weren't really sure how he'd react but his response was much like our own- sweet giddiness! The first thing he said was, "Oh, she's gonna be SO cute!" We tried to talk to him a little bit about the fact that we didn't know yet whether God was giving us a little girl or another little boy but he was pretty confused by that... He assured us that he'd be happy either way, but that this was definitely a baby sister!  He also decided that her name would be Rake.

After a few more attempts at explaining and reasoning with a 3 year old, we just laughed and decided to not worry about it unless we found out otherwise!

Incidentally, we've tried to tell Sam too but thus far he has remained seemingly oblivious.  We're still working on it.

Sure enough, a few months later, we found out that Eli had been right about the gender, so we quickly proceeded to convince him that her name was not Rake!  I had a few names picked out and Eli and Grant agreed that their clear favorite was Sarah Grace, so that's been her name ever since.

We can't wait to meet our sweet baby girl! Our official due date is January 4, but if you feel led to pray that she will come in time for Christmas, that would be fine with me *wink wink*.

6.  Of course the boys have grown and changed a lot over the course of the past year...  

Eli is still a big talker/ socializer.  He's always amazed us with his verbal abilities, speaking clearly and with a seemingly (to his adoring parents at least!) large vocabulary and more than age-appropriate understanding of parts of speech, grammar, and syntax.  I actually noticed a few months ago that he was using good/ well appropriately on a regular basis, saying things like "Daddy and I" appropriately, and experimenting with adding -ly to adjectives to form adverbs.  As the daughter of an English teacher, I have to admit that I was pretty proud of these.

He also loves meeting new people:  Anytime Grant or I am talking to someone he doesn't know, he walks up, extends his hand for a hand shake, introduces himself like a little man, and tries to strike up a conversation.  All I can say is G-R-A-N-T!

Sam, on the other hand, has been super active since before day one.  Seriously... he was already kicking so hard at 15 weeks' gestation that it could be felt (and sometimes even seen!) from the outside.  He has definitely been a climber so far.  He has great balance, coordination, and determination.  He loves to figure out for himself how to get what he wants and does NOT like unsolicited help. I guess the easiest way to explain Sam at this point in his life is to say that in his mind's eye, he is 10 feet tall and bullet-proof.

His favorite things are rock climbing walls, big twisty twirly slides, and jumping off of things like my bed and the stage at church while shouting "and beyond!" (a la Buzz Lightyear) as a warning to anyone within arm's reach to (please!) catch him.

These 2 sweet boys are wonderful together for many reasons, but the one that we have noticed the most over the past year is the way that playing together serves to develop the areas in which each of them is less-inclined naturally:  Eli's gross motor skills have really caught up with his verbal skills, and Sam is talking up a storm!

I also have to say that one of my very favorite things about both of them is how loving they are.  Although they are both very busy, they are both very affectionate and love to give their mama lots of hugs, kisses, and cuddles.

7. This past summer I was also offered a job that I had applied for years ago, a job that I thought would be PERFECT... A position as a school nurse! These jobs are few and far between, so I was very excited to not only get one, but one at a really great school with a really sweet faculty and staff.  Although I knew that the timing would be difficult for our family (with 2 little ones + one on the way), I accepted the position and decided to make it work. 

Well, we quickly realized that this just wasn't the right timing for our family and worked it out so that I could be a full time mommy! This has involved some major changes in our lifestyle but we LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  I am so thankful for my wonderful husband and the way he provides for and leads our family.  

I am one very blessed girl.

8. Now we're getting ready for the boys to turn 2 and 4! I told Grant the other day that I am so glad that Eli is starting to act more like a typical 4 year old (I've been told repeatedly by mommy-friends that 4 is easier than 2 and 3!) just in time for our already *ahem* determined Sam to start spreading his almost 2 year old wings.

9.  We're also so ready to meet Little Miss Sarah Grace! Now we just have to get ready.  So far, we've moved Sam out of the nursery into a big boy bed in the room he now shares with Eli and filled the nursery with items I want to sell in a yard sale.  

Yeah... not much progress!

I've decided to make new crib bedding and even selected a design and fabrics but have not actually done  anything on it yet.

I know.  

Up until this point, January has seemed so far away, but I just officially entered the third trimester this week and am now officially freaking out.

10.  I'd love to keep going but due to #9, I've gotta GO!

Sorry this was the most boring and bland blog post ever.  Maybe I'll pop back on in the next few days and actually post some pictures!

Not Me! Monday

Hello, my friends! How 'bout a little MckMama style Not-Me-ing?

Okay, here goes...

I did NOT get busy & forget to update our blog for a while, then get too overwhelmed with catching it up and then procrastinate until it had been almost 3 months since I last posted! I most certainly did outgrow the slacker tendencies that I thought were so cool in high school.

I also did NOT finally decide to stop procrastinating and create a new post today after seeing the sweet prize MckMama is giving away today to a Not-Me-er. I obviously know that she will not randomly choose me from the thousands of participants and I will have to continue drooling over the luscious prize that I absolutely can not afford right now.

I definitely did NOT relocate the pack-n-play to the back door this morning while I cleaned the kitchen so that Sam could play with Tucker through the window without me having to worry about him eating Eli's crumbs off the floor. There are never EVER bits of food on my floor.

While we're at it, I did NOT whisper in the ear of my almost 3 year old to suggest that he take his book to our Peruvian lunch guests yesterday afternoon... Because of course I already know how to pronounce the Spanish words in it perfectly and would never bother those precious people with an impromptu Spanish lesson. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm way too cool for that.

Also, for the record, I have not also been guilty (on more than one occasion) of MckMama's laundry and foot cleaning antics. Oh wait, I forgot! Neither is she!

Okay, y'all. Sorry for the long absence. I promise to have a real update post with lots of pictures very very soon!

Following Some Advice

I've heard it said a lot lately, "You'd better write down the funny things he says, because one day, you'll wish you could remember them!" Well, since I still haven't done the boys' baby books (*gasp*... I know!) and also due to the fact that we are currently living in our 5th house (in 7 years), so I've lost a lot of loose pieces of paper, I think I'll take a moment to record a few Eli-isms here on our blog.

Here is a sampling of what I can remember, off the top of my head. I'll try to put them into categories.

Things he's overheard and adopted as his own:

"GO, car! The light is green!"

"You're kiddin' (killing) me, _______!" (possibilities include, but are not limited to, computer, dvd player, train, Tucker, Mama, Daddy, & Sam)

"That's amazing!"

(after I've sufficiently answered his myriad of "Why?" questions)   "Oh! That's cool." (nonchalantly)

Things he says that show the way his mind works:

"I'm a potty train! Choo-choo!"

Eli: "Mama, may I please have a Charlie, please?"

Me: "A what?"

Eli: "A Charlie."

Me: "I'm sorry, baby, but I just really don't know what you're talking about."

Eli: "I'm talking 'bout a Charlie Brown!"

Me: "You want a brownie?"

Eli: "Yes!!!"

"I'm bleefin' (bleeding) Mama. I need a band-aid."

(When he was sick with a fever virus and awoke in the middle of the night with a fever of 103F) "I'm bleefin'. I need some Motrin!"

"Hey, Mama! I got a big idea for ya!" (the big idea can be either a plan, i. e. "let's go at the zoo!" or something that is big, i. e. "a giant, giant elephant!"


Eli: "I'm sweating, Daddy."

Grant: "Oh no! Did you wet your bed?" (yes)

Eli: "No, Daddy. I sweating."

(after any loud noise) "That scared my ears!"


"My name's E-jah Li-jah."

"I want to do it all my by-self!"


Things he says when he's "helping" me take care of Sam:


"I kin be a pin fin!" (I have no earthly idea what this means, but he's been saying this, very deliberately, stressing each "word" of it, since Sam was a newborn. They both think it's hilarious, though.)


"Mama! Sam pooted! I can smell it. It stinks. It stinks in my nose!"


*excited gasp*, listening for more sounds coming from Sam's room* "Sam waked up! I go get him outta his bed! Come on, Mama! Hurry so we can get him outta his bed! He's wake!"


(making Sam laugh by acting silly)"I'm making Sam be funny!"


(when I'm trying to feed Sam baby food, especially the early days of cereal)  "He's finished, Mama. He doesn't like it! He doesn't want it, Mama. Mama, Mama! He doesn't want it!"


"No, no, Sam! You must don't have my _____!" (whatever toy he has managed to swipe from Eli)


(in his softest, sweetest voice) "It's okay, Sam. It's goin' be oooo-kaaay." (when I'm driving and Sam is fussy in his carseat)


Some of my favorite pronunciations are also some of our favorite things to see at the zoo:


"hippy-ta-pah-mus"


"gri-ddah"


"ef-flant"


"podar bear"


"pan-nah bear"


"jraff" & "beebee jraff"


Things that tell me either (a) he's in trouble or (b) I'm in trouble:


"I'm fine. I'm fine" (a.k.a. I don't want to go to time out.)


"I'm ready to obey you, Mama." (a.k.a. I'm ready to get out of time out)


(volunteering from another room, especially the bathroom) "I don't need any help, Mama!"

Sam is still doing great, too, and he already has a few words of his own:

"da-da" (Daddy, of course!)

"ba-ba" (which is what Eli calls my mom, but Sam has started saying it when he wants me)

"ba" (deliberately & emphatically, repeatedly, means he is hungry. I think this one is especially funny, since he still refuses almost every time he is offered a bottle!)

So thankful...

We are so thankful for our two precious boys.  

I debated about whether or not to blog about this, because that would mean re-living the worst moments of my life, but I decided to, so that I could tell you guys what happened.  (You know I can't talk when I'm crying, and I can't tell this story without crying.)

Let me begin by saying that everybody is fine.  We had an accident, but everybody is okay.

Here's the what happened:

We decided to stay home from the Fourth of July festivities.  The boys have been sick and rather fussy lately, so we decided to just stay home and let everybody rest.  (We have since decided to never stay home for a holiday again... Grant got 2 stitches on Memorial Day... Anybody want to do something fun for Labor Day?)

I fed Sam while Grant and Eli headed to the kitchen to get started on supper.  Sam finished eating, but was still a little fussy, and I heard Eli whining in the kitchen, so I put Sam on my shoulders and headed into the kitchen.  (Yes, I know this was a mistake, but I honestly thought it would be okay, because I was holding him with both hands and he was loving it!)

Well, Eli thought it was hilarious, too!  We stood in front of Eli (who was sitting on the countertop) and played for a minute.  Then, Eli, my very cautious child who has never done anything like this, lunged for me.

(what follows happened over a 0.4 second period, in slow motion)

I screamed. 

I let go of Sam with 1 hand to catch Eli and tried to hold onto him (Sam) with the other.  Sam jerked back and I lost my grip on him.

Grant, about 6 feet away, turned around to see Sam falling, head first, toward the ceramic tile floor, but couldn't get there in time.

The rest is a blur.  All I can remember is Sam and Eli both crying while Grant held Sam and I held Eli with one hand and covered my gaping mouth with the other.  

I took Sam, held him and kissed his head while checking him out and crying and shaking all over.  Grant checked on Eli.

Sam had a bump on his head and was groggy, but awake.  Eli was fine.

We immediately put on shoes, strapped the boys into their car seats, and headed for LeBonheur.  

I wedged myself between their car seats so I could watch Sam and keep him awake while we drove.  I was reassured by his interactions with me, as well as his pupils, extremities, and fontanelle, but by the time we got to the exit for our local hospital, I couldn't keep him awake any longer so we stopped there.

The nurses and doctor there were wonderful and we were fast-tracked through every step of the process:  We walked in the door at a few minutes after 5 pm, were seen by the doctor, got a CT scan and its results (linear skull fracture with no brain injury),  met our new nurse (change of shift), and got into an ambulance headed to LeBonheur by 8 pm.  (BIG thank you to Hannah for coming to the hospital to get Eli and take him to get something to eat and home until my mom was able to get there... 4 1/2 hr drive!)

We were taken to an advanced monitoring room at LeBonheur, saw their ER doctor, and were in a room for the night (admitted for observation) at 10 pm.  

The 3 of us spent a restless night in the hospital, but Sam had absolutely no problems at all, so the Neurosurgeon who had been consulted wrote a discharge order during her Sunday morning rounds!

We are so thankful.  To God for protecting our precious babies and to our family and friends for checking on us, praying for us, and loving us.

Thank you.  

We love you.

I just took these pictures of Sam (Sorry they're a little blurry- that bright spot on the top of his head is the sun shining on his growing peach fuzz!). He is playing great, laughing, talking, and acting fine.  He actually just took steps for the first time (of course he was holding onto my mom's fingers for balance)!  Were it not for the mild cone head (from the knot spreading out), you'd never know anything bad ever happened.  

I think Grant and I are going to eventually be okay, too.

Ready for Summer!

When Grant was a little boy, he always got his hair cut really short for summer... and apparently he really liked it, because he tells me about it all the time.  So, the other night, when Eli's hair was completely saturated with perspiration after about 30 minutes outside (the heat index was only 100 degrees that day!), he asked if we could cut Eli's short.  I obliged.

Grant cut it last night, and Eli loves it! He was so proud to show it to everybody he saw at church this morning.   Then, we had to go out in the front yard to snap a few pictures this afternoon during Sam's nap. 

First, he found a regular old stick a really great sword!

Then, he found something even better.

The toad was a good sport about the whole thing.

I mean, how could he turn down a face like this?

(Just in case you're worried about the toad, his front left foot is propped up on a twig in the photo.  I don't know why he had it like that, but I promise he hopped away just fine, using all 4 of his extremities normally.)