Similarities

People are always looking at my kids and wondering who they look like. They don't really look like Jeromy or me, but I am really seeing how similar they looked as babies. I really see some similarities between Emma and Bennett and mostly Emma Rachel, not so much of Ellie, except the picture of her swaddled. Ellie has a pouty bottom lip that the others don't have. Bennett was super chubby, but I can see a similarity to Emma if I look past the chub. What do you think?

Bennett






Rachel





Ellie

I know I haven't been very diligent with my blogging lately, but man, what happened to my background wallpaper while I was away?!

New Pics

Hi all! We are still alive, but getting back into the swing of things which means we are BUSY! My back is starting to give me trouble again because of the increased activity level, so I need to pace myself for sure! We bought one of those 15 foot wide by 42 inch deep pools last weekend, and the kids are having a blast! I was hoping to teach them to swim this summer so we wouldn't have to do swimming lessons, but Bennett can touch the bottom so isn't forced to use his life jacket to float. Emma is still growing really well. I am not taking her to weigh in anymore, but last Thursday we were at the doctors, so I could pick up some digestive enzymes, and she weighed in at 9 pounds 7 ounces which was another pound in 9 days. She is looking so chubby and cute now. She is smiling which is so much fun. She is a good sleeper as long as she is swaddled and is sleeping in the bassinet now, as opposed to with me! Enjoy the new pictures!

Weigh In

I forgot to post yesterday about Emma's latest weigh in. She went from 7 pounds 9 1/2 ounces last Tuesday to 8 pounds 7 ounces this Tuesday. That is 14 ounces! Hooray! We are officially in the clear now. My midwife kept assuring me that we would reach critical mass, and once she was bigger, nursing would be easier and better. Thankfully she was right, and I will no longer be worried. I can tell she is getting longer, not necessarily chubbier. She is starting to smile. I love it!

My Great Kids!

These are my three musketeers. Rachel does whatever Bennett does and Ellie does whatever the big kids are doing, and they are always together. It is really cute. Bennett still loves his Ellie Bellie. Those two have always had a strong connection, and Bennett still likes to have her around and is really good with her (unless she is knocking down his legos and blocks!) Rachel is still getting over pink eye and caught Bennett's cold along the way. She looks pretty awful with goopy eyes, a constantly dripping nose, and really dark circles. Poor girl!



I finally got around to downloading my pictures off the camera. I think these pictures were taken last week. My mom says that Emma changes so much every week. I can't tell as much because I see her every day, but I know she is getting longer. She is still a skinny minny and will probably just be little like Ellie. Emma has really long arms though as you can see in these pictures. Her outfit fits her fine but the arms are too short. She is so tiny around, like Ellie, and everything looks like you could fit another baby in there with her. Enjoy my sweet little baby!

Conjunctivitis

Rachel woke up from her nap yesterday with a slightly goopy eye, not so big of a deal that I thought anything of it. She woke up this morning with two red, goopy eyes. I couldn't ignore the inevitable. Pink eye. Highly contagious pink eye. Cancel your dinner plans with friends pink eye. Bummer. My eyes are feeling itchy just thinking about it, but I hope that it is just the power of suggestion. At least the house is clean because I thought we were going to have company tonight. Sometimes IT seems never ending!

Voice Activated Typing

I know that they do already have voice activated typing available, but I wish I had it and then maybe I would be able to blog once in a while. I am still stuck with the two handed nursing for about 40 minutes with about an hour in between ending one session and starting another. That makes it impossible to type! Emma is gaining weight much better now, but it sure has taken up alot of time. She weighed in at 7 pounds 9 ounces on Tuesday, so she has gained all the weight back that she lost and gained 6 1/2 ounces in the last week which is totally "normal." I am still treating thrush, but the pain has gotten better with the nursing, so I can nurse her alot longer than I could before. She takes a good few hour nap during the day along with some shorter ones. She goes to bed at about 7:30 or 8 and then I get her up and nurse her before I go to bed. She wakes up at 2 or 3 to nurse and then again at 6 or 7. She is such a sweet baby and is already starting to smile a little bit. The older kids are enjoying our spring weather and are so bummed when they wake up to rain, which has been quite often lately. Jeromy has started reading Swiss Family Robinson to them at night, and I think they will really enjoy it once they get into it. Rachel finally learned how to ride her bike with training wheels. She has been to scared up until now to ride it because of how it teeters back and forth on the training wheels. Jeromy and I went to a fundraising dinner while my mom babysat the 3 oldest, and she said she took the kids on a walk while they rode their bikes. I asked her if she meant Rachel rode her scooter, and she said that she rode her pink two wheeler. I was so surprised, so now she is a bike rider. Pretty exciting stuff. Ellie is chattering up a storm. She is our biggest babbler we have ever had. She is always singing in some unknown language. My mom said she sounds like she is speaking in tongues. The words she does say are mostly backwards which is kind of strange. Doof for food, oosh for shoe. I don't know if you can be a dyslexic speaker? That's it for the updates. Sorry no pictures although I did take some, I just haven't downloaded them off the camera yet.

Funny quote I read today: There is nothing right in my left brain and nothing left in my right brain.

Yep, that about sums it up!

Emma's Birth Story

I thought maybe a month of time would lessen the traumaticness of Emma's birth, but nope, it was pretty traumatic. At 8 days overdue, I went and had a chiropractic adjustment thinking that maybe I was out of alignment and that Emma couldn't descend because of it. It turns out that I was right and that the adjustment either worked and I went back out or it didn't work at all. The night after the adjustment I started having contractions which was pretty exciting because usually that means a baby is going to come pretty quickly after that. I continued to contract all through the night, but was able to sleep for a few hours because by baby #4 I knew to get sleep if at all possible. I woke up the next morning and the labor stopped. Jeromy decided to stay home though because we were still thinking that something was going to happen, and I was pretty tired. That night, the same thing happened. I labored all night long, but this time the contractions were too strong to sleep through. They were really strong when I was lying down, but would stop when I stood up. I woke Jeromy up at around 3 am just to let him know I thought I was "really in labor this time." I didn't feel like any company, so I just worked through the contractions all night. I finally fell asleep around 5 am because the contractions were slowing down and slept for an hour or so. When I woke up, no more contractions. I called my midwife that morning, and she told me that "real labor" wouldn't change no matter which position I was in. Lying down or standing up shouldn't affect the labor. Jeromy stayed home again that day so I could get some rest after the long night I had. Wednesday night, same thing. The contractions started about 9 pm every 5 minutes or so. That night, for the next 8 hours, the labor was REALLY hard! The contraction were strange too. I had back labor as well as the normal contractions, but there was a weird really painful, sharp pinching feeling with the contractions. When daybreak came, the contractions stopped again. That morning, I had had enough. I was so tired and worn out from laboring all night, for the past 3 nights, and I was done. I called my midwife who informed me she was attending a birth 90 minutes away. She heard my desperation and called the back up midwife to come and check me. She agreed that breaking my water would be okay. It was either that or I was going to go to the hospital to get some pitocin and an epidural. If only I would have known what the day was going to hold, I would have gone with the hospital. They have strong drugs there. Sometimes that is a good thing.

The new midwife, Shannon, arrived an hour later and started calling assistants to get someone there before she broke my water. She checked my dilation and to my surprise, I was at a 6. The 3 nights of labor had at least done something. I was feeling rather optimistic that I would get my water broken and things would progress fairly quickly. Shannon wanted to get my contractions going again before she broke my water and that meant some painful sort of thing stretching out the cervix. Ouch. The contractions did start again and Shannon realized that with each contraction my cervix was being pinched by the position of Emma's head and that was the pain I was feeling. My cervix was swollen from the pinching which is the opposite of what you want to happen with effacement. She could also tell she was posterior (face up instead of face down) and that is why my labor kept starting and stopping and had been going for so long. Shannon then tried to break my water with no success. She tried all day long and could never get to them. She said Emma's head was kind of acting like a cork and we couldn't get it out of the way no matter what we tried, and believe me we tried EVERYTHING. I was even inverted at one point. As the day wore on and the contractions were getting worse, I got more and more tired, worn out and pretty hostile. Shannon kept giving me homeopathics to calm me down every time I would start yelling and screaming. It was not pretty. I was having such bad back labor and Shannon attached a muscle stimulator that helped alot. I would have Jeromy crank it way up each time the contractions started, and that provided a little relief for a while. When I was at 8 cm we kept thinking that things were going to progress quickly, but I stayed there for a VERY long time. This was my second labor with never ending transition. Transition is supposed to be fairly quick, at least in my other two experiences and it is torture when it goes on for hours. At around 3 pm I started talking about going to the hospital. I didn't want to be in pain anymore, and I was at the point that if someone would have offered me a C-section, I would have gladly taken it. None of us really knew what to do. Shannon told us that in her experience, we would get to the hospital and by the time I would get the epidural, I would be ready to push. None of us could predict though how much longer it was going to take. I couldn't last any longer but also didn't want to go to the hospital if I was almost done. As another hour would pass, I wanted to go even more but the chances of almost being done grew too. Jeromy didn't know what to do either. He couldn't comfort me at all or even say that I was almost done when we just didn't know.

I decided that I would use the bathroom one more time and then get ready to go to the hospital. The thought of a car ride was also unbearable, so I was really wanting to not have to go. I thought that maybe I could start pushing to just see if I could make something happen on my own. I pushed as hard as I could even though I didn't have the urge at all, and she was right there. I called for Shannon, and they moved me to my bed. A couple of pushes later and there she was. We knew the reason Shannon couldn't find the bag of waters. It was empty. I don't really think that my water could have broke without me knowing, so it was probably just gone by that point. She was born healthy and crying, which I love because my other kids didn't cry right away which makes me worried. She was so tiny and had the smallest little head. She never turned the right way either. Often the baby will turn the right way when they come out, but she was born face up, the stubborn little girl.

I was so relieved and happy when she was born. I think I said, "Oh, thank you Lord," about a hundred times after she came out. She nursed right away and for a long time. My other kids didn't want to nurse right away. It was so nice to be at home after the birth. Shannon and her assistant, Brandy, were so wonderful. They took such good care of me and Emma. They did the laundry and the dishes before they left. It was so neat having women caring for women. It was like it was more than a job, that they just had to check off boxes that they had done, like in the hospital. It was truly care. That part of it was awesome.

I would definitely have a run of the mill, normal birth at home again. I would definitely NOT have a posterior, induced, or breech baby at home. Sign me up for the hospital and epidural at the first sign of contractions. It is not something I need to go through again. 4 natural childbirths is all I have in me. I have paid my natural dues, I think. We'll see how I feel if and when there is a next time, but at this point, I don't feel like I could do it again. I think taking advantage of drugs in a difficult birth scenario will be my next birth plan.

That's the whole story. Emma is beautiful and perfect, and I wasn't even mad at her after she was born like I was with Ellie. ( I was really mad at Ellie for a good few hours for putting me through her hard birth! ) Yes, she was totally worth it, but I do have the regret of not going to the hospital that last morning. God works it all out in the end though, and it happened the way it was supposed to. Emma is still gaining weight rather slowly. Nursing is getting easier though, and I think the thrush is clearing up because it isn't AS painful to nurse her as it was. She is a pretty lazy nurser which I have never had before. My other kids would eat in 15 or 20 minutes, and it takes her 40 minutes to an hour. It has made it hard to nurse all day long with the other children to care for, but we are adjusting, and I know as Emma gets bigger and more awake, she'll start nursing faster. It is still so astounding to me how different each child is, even within the same family. She seems like a mixture of Bennett and Rachel when they were babies. She is very serious like Bennett and studies faces and things around her, and she is very mellow and relaxed like Rachel was. She doesn't cry very much and is easily appeased when she does. All the kids adore her and there was no adjustment problem at all. We are truly blessed and so thankful to have Emma entrusted to us. I love you Emma!

Bennett's 6th Birthday!

This post is a little late, but so is everything else these days! Bennett's birthday was on April 18th, so now I have a 6 year old. I can't believe it, but on the other hand, he very often seems like a 16 year old, not a 6 year old. We had a "camouflage party" for him at my parent's house. His dinner request was beans, rice, and tacos, and in lieu of a cake this year, he requested banana splits. He saw them on TV and thought they looked pretty great. They were a big hit and definitely easier on me! Bennett was blessed with all kinds of fun gifts this year. We got him a skateboard and a knight in shining armor costume. His grandparents got him a "school" table. A really high quality table like they have in classrooms for him to do his work and play on. He has really been enjoying it and uses it every day. Some family friends got him a 5 foot lion that we named "Judah." They don't know how small our house is, and he takes up a VERY large space. Bennett also got alot of various paper and drawing items, and he has really been into tracing paper and art lately. It was a wonderful celebration, and we are so blessed to have Bennett as our son. He keeps us on our toes and challenges us everyday to be more like Christ. He informed Jeromy and I the other day that we are only doing a pretty good job at being parents, not great. Apparently we have some things to work on. The kid is right!

Easter

This last picture doesn't have anything to do with Easter, but it is pretty funny. Ellie calls these eyeballs that have a little post on the back her binky. She put Rachel's pillow on the floor and her blanket and sucked on her "binky."

Emma is Growing!

Good news from the Dr. today. Emma is now 6 pounds 15 ounces. I guess that an ounce a day weight gain is what "they" like to see, and she is over that, so YAY! I am going to bring her back in at 3 weeks just to make sure she is still doing well, but I think that we are in the clear. I am able to nurse her twice as long as I could before. It is still pretty painful, but nothing like it was before. I can't wait for it to be easy, but I am just taking it one day at a time. She is such a good baby and sleeping really well. She is still sleeping with me, but I will start moving her to her own bed once this nursing gets a little easier. I can't wait to be able to nurse her in bed too. Sitting up in the middle of the night for extended periods of time is a bummer!

Our Dr. also wrote Bennett, Rachel and I orders to have a Celiac Disease Panel done. Rachel will also get food allergy tested. I have been suspecting that she might have an allergy that I don't know about. I am just praying it isn't corn. The doc doesn't really think that the Celiac test is necessary once you test intolerant to gluten, but I want a little more confirmation. I think it will help Jeromy and maybe others to be more careful with the kids and what they eat. Bennett especially is pretty miserable if he eats wheat.

I have Easter pictures that need to be downloaded, but Emma is awake and squawking, so you'll have to wait!

Pray

Emma had her 1 week check up today. It was the second time I have gotten out of the house in the last week and I am pretty tired! I assumed that when Emma was weighed I would hear that she was 8 1/2 pounds already. She is such a good eater. I was very surprised to hear that she has dropped down to 6 pounds 9 ounces. I wasn't just surprised but pretty upset. I have been having so much pain with nursing her that I felt like it was all my fault that she isn't getting the nutrition she needs and losing weight because of it. I broke down during the appointment and my midwife spent the next half hour working with me on getting her latched on right. Man, after 4 kids, you would think I knew what I was doing, but I forget that you can't nurse a newborn the same way you do a one year old. You can't just plop them on and let them do the work. She helped me alot and even nursing with the damage I already have isn't as painful anymore when I do it the right way. Please pray that we are now on the right foot and that she starts gaining right away. We go in for another weigh in on Monday to make sure. I am looking forward to the day when there isn't anymore drama. I am ready for a little boring!

Introducing...............

EMMA GRACE MARKWORT


We are doing well and slowly getting back to what feels like normal life (a new normal!) Jeromy goes back to work tomorrow and my mom will stay with us in the mornings Thursday and Friday. Emma is sleeping really well (as long as I am holding her or she is cuddled in next to me.) We are all enjoying our new sweet little baby. She is really mellow and only cries if she is being changed or is hungry. Otherwise she sleeps or just looks around. The kids are doing great with her and Ellie loves her to pieces and is being very gentle. I think we are going to make it! Here are some new pictures!






These are for you Rohnda, a couple of days before Emma was born. You love to see me big as a house!

She's Here!

3 1/2 Days of labor, a new midwife, a very long and hard road, and we have a new little one that we did end up having at home! She has yet to be named, but in a moment of weakness Jeromy told me that after all I went through, I get to name her. For now, baby girl Markwort was born on April 2nd at 4:40 pm, weighed 7lb 7 oz (my smallest so far!), and was 20 inches long. She is perfect, nurses like a champ and has VERY excited siblings! I will post a birth story for those interested sometime soon. For now, I am concentrating on making up some sleep after 3 nights of not getting any. Feel free to call, we'd love to talk to all of you who have kept us so covered in prayer. Thank you so much! Enjoy the pictures

41 Weeks + 4 Days

Yes, I am still pregnant. No, I don't intend to be much longer. I was up all night for the third night in a row with really strong contractions, the strongest so far. When daybreak hits, they seem to get scared away. I have many fears at this point (baby isn't in the right position, something's wrong, etc.) so I would covet your prayers. My midwife happens to be attending a birth 1 1/2 hours away right now, so the backup midwife is on her way over. I want her to check and see if I am dilated and talk about breaking my water if I am. I can't take another sleepless night and hours of pain. I think that being in labor for 3 days is enough, so I am really planning on having to go to the hospital today. I have reached my threshold of pain and don't feel like I can physically or mentally handle anymore. I admit to being critical of women who in my mind have "taken the easy way out," ie. pain meds, but I think this might be a lesson in humility for me as all I can think about is wanting an epidural RIGHT NOW! God seems to like to chip away at any judgmental attitudes I might have, which is a good thing, and maybe this can be laid to rest too. I will update when and if there is any news.

41 Weeks + 3 Days

Well, I officially feel for you, Mystie. This was night number two of strong contractions. We took a walk at 6:30 and by 7, I was having consistent contractions. So much so that I nearly called my midwife and mom to come over at about 4 am because the contractions were so strong, long and frequent. I was having a hard time relaxing through them and was in alot of pain. Then at 4:30 in the morning, I got up to get Jeromy, I was on the couch, to come out and time them and just the getting up and using the bathroom and sitting up made everything stop.

I talked to my midwife this morning, and she said that she has had women who contract lying down but not standing up. It is more rare, because it usually is the other way around, but happens. She said the way to tell if the contractions are active labor or not is to do something different. "Real" labor won't stop no matter if you are up, down, taking a shower, walking etc.

I am feeling pretty discouraged this morning. Contractions all night long didn't give me very much sleep and my stomach is pretty sore from all the contractions. Just the knowledge that I have to go through this again before it's all over is making me pretty down. (And thinking a hospital and epidural might not be so bad!)

Anything?

Nope. Nothing to report. Just random contractions here and there.

41 Weeks + 2 Day

I thought that this was the day. I woke up at 4 this morning with contractions. The real kind, not the Braxton Hicks that I have had for months. I timed them for a little while, but they weren't coming at any regular intervals, so I went back to sleep. I woke up at 5:30 and 7 and was still having them, so I told Jeromy he should stay home from work today. When I got up this morning, everything stopped. No more contractions. I know that this is normal for alot of women, but I have never had labor start and stop before. I start having contractions and then they get worse until I have a baby. I think that I am still having some here and there, but they aren't getting worse. Actually I was just on the phone with a friend and started feeling them again and as I write this, I am feeling more. This could still be the day. I could still have a March baby. What a bummer to have a birthday on April 1st, so we will hope she comes before midnight. Maybe my midwife would be generous with the time and say 11:59 pm. The baby would never have to know :) Stay tuned.

41 Weeks + 1 Day

Okay, these posts are getting a little old! I went to the chiropractor this morning and basically the whole right side of my body, from shoulder to hips were higher than the left. He cracked me a ton and we'll see if it helps. The best part is that Jeromy took us out for Thai food after. Yum! Will we make it to Friday? I hope not!

41 Weeks

I hesitated even going to church this morning to spare the other attendees the need to feel bad for me, but I went anyway. And yes, they all gave me pitying sorts of looks which at this point I probably deserve. My mom's boss said that if I give birth next Friday, he will buy us all dinner. If I have to wait until next Friday to have this baby, that is going to have to be one heck of a dinner! I am going to try to get into my chiropractor in the morning to make sure everything is in alignment. I should have done it last week like I had planned. I am a little more motivated now! I am going to go take a nap now. Will this be an April baby?

40 Weeks + 6 days

Bennett said it all this morning: Mom, I don't think you are really having a baby at all. I think you just have been eating too much.

40 Weeks + 5 days

Yes, it's Friday. No, I am not in labor :(

40 Weeks + 4 Days

I had my midwife appointment this morning. Baby girl is still in the right position (HOORAY!). She is still high, but my babies usually are until I go into labor. All my babies have looked like Cesarean babies with nice round heads, never a cone head. Jeromy thinks tomorrow is the day. We'll see. I finally got all my pictures downloaded and the camera all charged up, so enjoy some pictures of Ellie. She is our dress-up girl and so cute, I might add. She and Rachel love to dress up like ballerinas and spin around the living room. The Nutcracker is their favorite movie, and they would watch it endlessly if I let them. My parents bought Rachel a 3 foot tall ballerina doll that attaches to your feet so you can dance with her. Let's just say they BOTH want to play with it all the time. Ellie likes to wear the ballet shoes that came with it even though they come off every 3 seconds and she endlessly asks for them to be put back on. Ellie Bellie is nearly 18 months old and is starting to talk alot. All of my kids have started talking right around 18 months, never early. Ellie can say Mamma, Dadda, Bubba, Sissy, Food (which sounds like oof, food backwards), waffle (waff), No No, please (peas), yeah, binky (beebee), eye, nose, baby, doll, throw, ball and more I am forgetting. She is pretty good with sounds of animals and trains too. She is so much fun, and we enjoy how funny and goofy she is all the time. She is either happy and laughing or screaming and mad. She has no in between mode. We can't wait to see how she responds to the new baby. She loves other people's babies, so we hope she does well with ours. Enjoy the pictures.

40 Weeks + 3 Days

Please pray for us. Rachel woke up from her nap yesterday with a fever a little over 102. She was achy and had an upset stomach. Please pray no one else gets sick! She is already feeling better and is rarely ever sick for more than a day or two at the most.

I am really tired and pretty cranky too. I could use some prayers for that as well! I think my family is looking forward to having this baby make her appearance soon too, so they can get their mamma back.

I have a midwife appointment in the morning. I think I am going to try to get into the chiropractor too in order to make sure everything is in alignment and baby can get to where she needs to go.

Another day closer!

40 Weeks + 2 Days and Names

I think this post-due date stage is so funny. People at the store ask when I am due and I say, "two days ago." They get this horrified look as if my water is going to break on their floor right in front of them. When I call anyone on the phone, my first words have to be, "It's Samantha, and no I am not in labor," before I can start a conversation. I hope to have this little girl soon because I don't know how long I can not think about the labor that is to come. I am in denial about how she is going to get here, but a little fear likes to creep in now and again. Worrying doesn't help the process AT ALL, so the futility of it has kept me from going there.

No, we haven't named her yet. We have never had so much trouble picking out a name before. Usually we are really sure and confident about our pick well before the arrival, but this time, we just can't decide. We have 3 names that we like and will probably decide on one of them after she is born. At least there is a little mystery still left :)

I am ready for nap time, so I will update when there's any news to be shared.

40 Weeks + 1 day

4 Loads of laundry done.............check

Grocery shopping done...........check

Kitchen Floor Vacuumed and fairly clean thanks to Bennett and Rachel............check

2 Freezer meals defrosting in the fridge...........check

Thank you cards done...........check

Okay, the baby can come now. I think I'm ready.

40 Weeks

Today is my "official" due date. I was really unsure about my dates this time around, so it is the date the ultrasound spit out months back. Jeromy guesses that I will have the baby next Friday, Rohnda guesses Tuesday. I don't have a guess, I am too tired :) It is pretty sad when I am hoping that she won't come until after Monday so that I can get laundry done and the kitchen floor mopped. (Actually, I have taught Bennett and Rachel to do it and they do a fairly good job!)

Nothing more to report. I need to have this baby soon, or I am going to gain 20 more pounds lying on the couch eating all day.

Happy Sunday.

Update

I had my weekly midwife appointment today. Everything was great as far as the midwife was concerned. I, on the other hand, was not too pleased with the 4 pounds I gained in the last week. Geesh! It is so easy to put on, but I am very well aware how much harder it is to get off! She took a very long time to make sure she knew how the baby was positioned. It took her a so long because she was fairly high still. It explains the breathlessness I have had lately and why my ribs hurt so bad. I have had some pretty good nights of sleep mixed in with some bad ones, so at least there are some good ones in there.

Jeromy and I went out for dinner last night to celebrate our 7th anniversary a little early. It is on the 30th, so we figured we should do it now while we have the chance to get out without having to rush back for the baby. Boy did I eat too much! I still had indigestion when I got up in the morning, I ate so much. Not pleasant! While we were at the restaurant, I pointed out that we didn't get our annual anniversary picture in which I am as big as a house pregnant. I have been pregnant 4 out of our 7 anniversaries with pictures to prove it :)

Will tomorrow be the big day? I don't know, but I sure hope I don't have to wait for another Friday!

New Pictures!

Here are some more current pics of the little munchkins. Enjoy!



Bennett and Rachel doing some good cuddling. I find them together alot of mornings in Rachel's bed waiting for me to let them get up. Too cute!


Ellie is learning the finer skills of table manners.


The big kids love to dress up and Ellie likes to do whatever they are doing. Her current favorite dress up is the ballerina outfit. The shoes are too big for her, and she asks me to put them back on her 25 times at least!


Our Little Mermaid


Warming up the tootsies by the fire.

A New Post!!

Okay, so I know that the only people that are going to read this are those who have me on their Google Reader Feed. I can't believe I haven't posted since January 1. It has been a nice vacation! I had a friend recently tell me though that no one was going to know I had a baby unless I blog about it. I haven't had the baby yet, but hopefully it will be VERY soon. Yes, I have reached that point already. I am due on the 22nd, but that isn't a Friday, and I have had all my kids on Fridays. I know that's kind of weird, but it is what it is. I am thinking that next Friday the 20th, the first day of spring, would be a great day to have a baby. We'll see. I am healthy and baby is head-down and healthy, so I am trying to be patient. My only issue is the insomnia that I seem to have right now. 2 or 3 hours of sleep a night makes for a very cranky mamma. At least I will get more than that once the baby is here. That's all I got for now, I will try to post some pictures soon. The kids are all so much bigger than the last pictures I have on the blog. I need to update! At least it is something I can do from the couch. I don't go too far from it these days! Stay tuned.