This Month is Such a Special One . . .

Spring is a busy time of year in our house -- birthday-wise. Adding Violet, we now have three birthdays within a month and mine in April. The past month has been slightly busy and I've been a little preoccupied, but I'd like to post about the other two special days that we've shared together in the past month.

Nels

Nels' birthday this year was SUPER relaxed. Not much fun, I know, for a thirtieth birthday, but when you're married to me, that's to be expected.

That's one crazy looking birthday cake, no? :)

The week before Nels's birthday the girls and I were in Utah, so come Valentine's Day and Daddy's birthday, we were pretty wiped out. Hazel didn't have school that day, Nels decided to take the day off from work, and we all stayed happily at home enjoying the day together. Nels got to sleep in to his heart's content, play games with his girls, and generally just get to do nothing. No "honey-do's" or appointments or outings. :) Just together and happy. He said it was exactly what he wanted to do for his birthday and said repeatedly that it was perfect. -- So I'll take it and believe him when he tells me that he's not disappointed that I didn't throw him some elaborate 30th birthday party. 

See, he looks happy, right?

I love my husband so much. He is seriously the best. I can honestly say that there has not been one day in the past nearly 8 years that we've been together that I have not been happy with the decision that I made to be with him. That I have not been thankful that HE is at my side. That I have regretted or longed for the days that I was single. Not one day that I haven't been able to look into his eyes and see and feel the love that we share. He is my best friend. 

Lilie

For the first time in several years, Lilie did not request a blue birthday cake.

My sweet Lilie turned FIVE YEARS OLD this past Saturday. I cannot believe that she is FIVE. I still feel like she should be three. But oh, what a wonderful five years it's been! My Lilie is filled with spunk and fun. She is brave and she is so very strong. She is a loving sister and a forgiving daughter. There are few sounds that I love more than Lilie's laugh - so free and full (and loud). :) She is looking forward to warmer weather, because she is determined that she is NOW ready to learn to ride a two wheeler (something that she was easily ready to do last year, but had decided that she needed to be five first . . . ).  

I can't believe that she will start school this year . . . . I truly don't know how I feel about both my big girls being gone to school. Lilie seems too little to be all on her own like that. She still has a lisp, for goodness sake. :) However, she is definitely ready and asks OFTEN when she gets to go to school. She reads . . . nearly as well as Hazel, can easily count to 100 and 100 (that's what comes after 199), and is independent and so clever. This coming year will certainly bring many new challenges and adventures into her life!

Two of her new birthday dinosaurs and one cheesy birthday smile! 

Not only did she get to enjoy a brand new baby sister for her birthday, but Grandma Moon got to be here, as did 4 of Lilie's aunts. Melissa, Wendie, Kelly, and Genny made their way up from Utah that day to celebrate with us. She got to enjoy a special date with Grandma on Friday, going out to lunch and picking out a present at Toys-R-Us. Grandma even took her and Hazel to a movie that night! What a lucky girl! 

Violet Emily Chick

Violet Emily Chick

March 9, 2010 - 5:27pm

7 lbs. 8 oz.

19 3/4 in.

Our little Violet finally decided to make her debut in the world this last Tuesday and we are all SO EXCITED!!! She is beautiful and healthy and LOVED. She's got a fuzzy head of dark blonde hair and fuzz just about everywhere else too! :) On her back, her ears, her cheeks . . . so cute and soft.

I'd been having contractions -- for weeks :) -- but all weekend particularly. When I went in to my midwife appointment on Monday, I was dilated to 3 cm -- a huge improvement over the week before -- and my midwife asked if I wanted to have my membranes stripped -- to see if that helped move things along. Of course I did and then had nice, hard, regular contractions throughout the remainder of the day. However, as the night wore on and we were getting the girls to bed and preparing to mobilize the troops and go to the hospital, they slowed down considerably. By about 10, they were about 7-10 minutes apart and not nearly as hard as they'd been earlier. Exhausted and frustrated I finally went to bed, with contractions remaining at about that consistency throughout the night.

Needless to say, the next morning, I was TIRED and . . . irritable (read Sleep-Deprived Maniac). I called my sweet mother to cry for a while and then got on with the day, continuing to have less than promising contractions. Finally around 11:30 I called my midwife again to ask her what she would be willing to do for me. :) I'd wanted to go natural with this baby, but was afraid that if I continued along the road I was presently on, by the time I actually went into "real" labor I would be so exhausted I'd not be able to go through with it. Sweet woman that she is, she told me that if I had dilated to at least a 4 in the last 24 hours (which was very likely), she'd break my water for me and admit me to the hospital. She said to bring Nels and my bag and just plan on staying. HALLELUJAH! My mom arrived to stay with my girls and we were off.

We arrived at Helene's office around 2:30, she broke my water at about 3:00, and we were admitted and in a room at the hospital by 4:00 with instructions to call her as soon as I felt like I needed her help. Contractions were hurting quite a bit by this point, but I didn't want to jump the gun, so I decided to go sit in the hospital's jacuzzi tub for a while before calling. :) It felt wonderful, but I still spent the next hour or so trying to "be in the zone" - or something. :) Mostly trying to listen to my body, zone Nels out, and trying to not want to kill the nurse every time she'd peek her head in to ask me another question or want to check the baby's heart rate again, right in the middle of another contraction. All the while, wondering if I was making the right decision and could I really do this. Nels assured me (when I wasn't telling him to be quiet :) that I could, that I already was doing it, and that if I decided not to, he was absolutely fine with that. **He's such a wonderful husband.** 

After about an hour, I came to a point where I felt like every time I twitched a muscle, I was having another unbearable contraction, with no breathing room in between. I was exhausted. I concluded that I, in fact, could NOT continue to do this and I didn't need to. I was going to get an epidural and go to sleep --- if only I could get out of that darn tub without ripping into a million little pieces in the process. LOL! After what felt like one long, unbearable contraction all the way from the jacuzzi to my room, we made it. We were followed in by my midwives, who'd just gotten there. After another contraction, I turned around to greet them and told them that I didn't want to do this anymore -- I didn't think I could. Helene smiled sweetly and said, "That just fine. Let's see how far along you are." In the time that it took us to have this two sentence conversation, I started having another contraction and realized that I knew EXACTLY how far along I was! Just kidding about the epidural, I think she's coming RIGHT NOW! Three or four pushed later, our little Violet was welcomed into this world by a STUNNED mother and a SHOCKED father. LOL! Thank goodness Helene and Karen hadn't waited until I called them!!

I just couldn't believe that I did it! And the midwives told my dear friend who had an appointment with them the following day, that the look on Nels's face was priceless. :) It was just SO FAST! None of my labors have been long ones, but this one was definitely a very different experience. :) Nels asked me about half an hour after she'd been born if I'd do it this way again. I told him that my opinion at the moment was more than a little jaded and to not ask such questions for about six months. :) However I can say, even three days later, that I would absolutely do it this way again. It was such an incredible, empowering experience. Intense and painful and like nothing else on the planet - but one that I will never, ever forget. The only thing that I would have done differently is to have had the sense to call my midwife earlier, so that she could help me understand better what exactly my body was doing. That during that period of "every muscle twitch is causing me to have another contraction" - it actually meant that I was pretty much done. :) She told me afterward that generally by the time women (who have had more than one baby) get to the point that they think they can't do it and want drugs, they are already done and ready to push. :)

I am so thankful for my sweet Nels. He was there for me just as I needed him to be - even when I was telling him to be quiet or to stop touching me or to stop making me laugh. :) He is my best friend and confidant in every way. I'm so thankful to have been blessed to bring another child into this world with him at my side. FOUR KIDS!!! Holy cow. We are not a "little" family anymore!

Isn't she so beautiful?! We love our little Violet!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

In an effort to encourage this little baby here, we took a little family stroll in the cold and grey. Unfortunately, frigid Idaho afternoons don't aren't very enticing. :)

Oh, What a Fabulous Friday!

1. Since my last post, the remainder of the week has gone considerably better. :) It's amazing what a little attitude adjustment can do. :)

2. I have not changed a diaper in more than a month! That is something to celebrate! This is obviously something that is soon coming to an end, but I don't think we've gone this long without changing diapers since Hazel was born!!!

3. We've even seen the sunshine a few times this week. The girls were able to play outside with friends yesterday for several hours. It was wonderful! And even though it snowed last night, it's all but melted what it put down. Spring will come.

4. I have less than a week until my due date! Even though the last two weeks have dragged on a bit, I can't believe how fast this pregnancy really has gone by. I'd really like to have this baby this weekend, but if that is not the case, the end is definitely in sight.

5. Babies. I love my new babies. I'm so excited to bring a new one into our lives. I can most assuredly say that I am not really a baby person. I never really enjoyed babysitting -- I still don't "love" babysitting other people's children (if I don't know the parents fairly well). I love my nieces and nephews. I love my friend's children. They could live here all day, but I definitely am not the kind of person that would ever want to run a daycare. :) I don't swoon over every baby that I see. BUT MY babies? That's another matter entirely. :) I'm so excited to bring home this little baby. To wrap her up and snuggle her. To give her baths and scrub her little hair with baby soap ----- speaking of which, I don't have any baby soap . . . hmmm. I can't believe how much our lives are about to change - again. And I know that when they do, I won't be able to remember it being any other way. I won't be able to remember life without her in it. I'm really looking forward to all that the next week (hopefully the next week) will bring. :)

IF MAMA AIN'T HAPPY, AIN'T NOBODY HAPPY

Wow. My three hundredth post. I have had a lot to say in two and a half years!

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I sat down last night to write a post. My three hundredth. The past few days had been such . . . inconsistent ones, that I decided I needed to think about the things that I'm grateful for. However, as I sat in front of my computer, trying to feel grateful, I was having a really hard time. Nels and the girls came into my room, ready for prayer before getting in bed. I knelt down and among the fiasco that is family prayer at our house, I totally lost it. Sorely tempted to grab my keys and leave the house. I got myself under "control" and helped him finish getting the girls in bed. For the remainder of the night Nels kept asking me if I was okay. (Of course I'm fine! Why would you think any different???!) Needless to say, I never quite felt like coming back to my "grateful post". Another thing that obviously doesn't need to be pointed out, but I will anyway, is that hormones, excessive sugar, lack of sleep, and anxiety don't really bode well for anyone in our house.

This morning I woke up to sun shining through my bedroom window. Not the gloomy kind of sun that is shrouded by grey clouds, but bright, cheery, yellow sunshine. As I held the door open for Hazel and Nels as they left for work and school, I could see the little green tips of my daffodils, just starting to push their way to the surface, through the snow still covering my flower beds. And I felt like singing. And I did. And I cleaned the kitchen floor. On my hands and knees - doing a good job of it for the first time in months. :) (Don't think that I don't clean my kitchen floor regularly. With three children, that would be disgusting. But I usually use a mop.) (Also, please don't give me any well-meaning encouragement about nesting -- I've been "nesting" for more than a month now. My floor was just really dirty and I was feeling up to it this morning. :) Even though the yellow sunshine is no longer shining, but is now shrouded with those yucky grey clouds, the temperatures are still reaching toward 40 (!) and it has been happily sprinkling all morning. Not snowing! Oh happy day!

Spring is still probably more than a month away for us here in Eastern Idaho, but the end is in sight and it will come before we know it. I think I could learn a few things from my daffodils this morning.


I AM GRATEFUL

1. Family. I have the best family. My sweet little children and wonderful husband. They make me smile. They are so excited for this baby to come. The "rest" of my family. My sweet siblings and parents. They all love me. - Even though I have not been maintaining "balance" very well lately.

2. Friends. So many friends have been there to show their love for me over the past week. People I have gone to visit, end up giving ME a boost. So many people have dropped off wonderful tokens of love for me and my family. I love you all. What a wonderful place I live in!

3. A healthy body. I have walked so many miles over the past week. I'm so thankful that my body is good to me. Even when it's achy and painy. :) I'm thankful to be a woman and to have the body that I do. I'm so thankful for the part that I play in bring children into this world.

4. The Defining Line Salon. :) It is amazing what a little pampering can do for a person. :) Even if their magic essential oils don't put me into the throws of labor, it sure feels nice to get a neck massage and have some really wonderful, comfortable gals to chat with. :)

5. Garbage men. Seriously glad that we don't have to haul our own garbage to the dump. :)

6. Pine-sol. That smell will forever mean clean to me. The smell that is permeating my house right now. I love the feel of a clean floor.

7. Seasons. I love when the seasons change. I love the things that are good about each one of them. For the most part, I have really enjoyed the rest that comes with Winter this year. It has been welcome and needed. Looking forward to the Life that comes with Spring.

8. Books. I love the oblivion that can come from books. :) As long as it is moderated. :)

9. Sleep. I slept last night. Thank the Lord. Seriously.

10. Work. I am so thankful for work. For parents that taught me how to work. I don't always love it, but I am thankful for it.

11. Faith. I'm so thankful for the peace that can come (even if it is only in spurts :) from the knowledge that the Lord is in control and he truly does what is best for me and my family. Sometimes (a lot) I feel angry at this reality. I like being in control -- or at least having some kind of bargaining power, you know? I feel resentful when I can't bend circumstances around my desires. (Can you believe that I even complain about my sweet Lilie's shenanigans?? I never really wonder where she gets it from.) However, regardless of the grown up "fit throwing" that I've been doing the past few days, I'm thankful for the faith that I have in my Father in Heaven's love for me. And his eternal patience. (Gives me more than a little something to think about in my own parenting techniques.)