Happy Anniversary My Love! Happy Birthday My Darling!

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Four years ago today I married my best friend.  This man sums up everything I ever wanted in a husband and more!  We were 21 when we got married and just crazy kids who thought we knew about life, love, struggle, and selflessness.  Oh how we have grown in just 4 years!  God has changed us SO much it is unreal!!!  I am so thankful for how he has used this marriage to grow our faith, test our faith, renew our faith, and completely change our views on what faith really means. 

This marriage has taught us what sacrifice means... through the adding of children and realizing life isn't meant to revolve around us and our comforts, pleasures, vacation plans, size of our house, and what we think we know best.  God is so good and faithful and He can be trusted in all things!  Not just the easy things!

This marriage has taught us how to die to ourself daily and consider the needs of another higher than ourselves.  And my husband spoils me.  Joey you really spoil me... but I don't complain about it!

You are the most chilvalrous man I have ever met... how lucky am I? 
You always open doors for me...
Carry my bags and never expect me to load the minivan for 4 people...
You open my ketchup packets at restaurants... : )
You always let me pick where we want to eat out....
You always offer to carry the 18lb child in her carseat so I don't have to struggle doing it.
You are always quick to help me if I ask....(except maybe at 3:00 a.m. but only because you are a heavy sleeper : ))
You only have eyes for me...I trust you completely.
You will scrub a sick child's throwup off the carpet so I don't have to....that deserves an award I think!
You always think of me and the girls first and I know you desire to protect us, lead us, and provide for us.
You are so big and strong I know you could protect me from any danger...that is so comforting to me.
You know I hate to grill things and it just happens that you love to grill.  A match made in Heaven!
You make me laugh.
You listen to me.
You will watch a movie with me even if you don't want to watch it.
You want to see me happy and will die to yourself so I can be.
You are wise beyond your years and lead me in the knowledge of Christ.
You lead our family in worship.
You are incredibly humble.
You have an amazing parents and family who I'm blessed to call my own.
You are gentle but strong...laid back but crazy...and a total softy around your daughters!
Kay and Jane are crazy about you!

I can't wait to see how much we grow in the future together and I pray God will use our marriage to continually point to Jesus and how much he loves us.

There will be good times, hard times, sad times, and crazy times ahead...and I can't wait to go through all of it with you!

Happy Anniversary Babe! I love you!!


Happy Birthday Kay!

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Two years ago you introduced me to motherhood.  That day you were born marks one of the all time best days of my entire life!  I was on cloud nine and nothing could stop that.  You have brought joy, laughter, and love into my life like I never imagined possible.  Only a mother can understand what I am talking about.  There is nothing on Earth like it and I am so thankful God entrusted you to my care.  To know this joy of motherhood. 

You are such a happy child.  You really are so goofy, and from the time you were a baby you have had this personality that loves to joke and make others laugh.  Only those closest to you have seen that side of you though because you are quite shy around people.  You have recently begun to come out of your shell around others though and can be quite outgoing and charming. 

You have the sweetest little voice... the sweetest voice I think I have ever heard.  I used to imagine what your voice would sound like and it sure is sweet!  My favorite thing to hear you say is "I'm awake Mommy, I'm AWAAAKE!" in the mornings.  When I hear that I just can't help but smile even if I'm so tired : )

You are still very smart and love to learn.  You have started to ask, "What's this?" all the time and we could read books for hours if I would let you.  You love to read!

You already serve our family so well and help me with Jane alot.  You can throw things away for me, wipe up her spit up, pick up toys for her, get diapers for me, and the list goes on.

I see you growing up so fast, and it makes me sad, but on the other hand I look forward to us forming such a close knit relationship.  A mother and daughter who laugh together, serve together, cook and clean together, read together, learn together, cry together, share dreams together, and love God together. 

You are my firstborn and will always hold that special place in my heart.

Jane at 7 Months!

Well, my little Miss Jane is 7 months old.  I'm kind of in shock but I knew it would happen : )  Some recent milestones for you Jane...

Last month you.... sat up, started not just scooting but scooting Super fast, and ate baby food for about 4 days... you had a 4 day baby food streak.

This month... you will not touch baby food... at all.  You won't even open your mouth to try it and are pretty stubborn about it.  But one day you will figure out that eating food is a marvelous thing and you will dig in. 

You weigh 18 pounds and are still in the 85th percentile.  You and Kay now wear the same size diaper and some clothes. 

You have battled a cold that turned into a chest infection that you are still taking antibiotics for.  We hope you never have to suffer like this again... or at least for a long time! You've been taking 2-3 naps a day...and sleep has been hard since you have been sick.  But we moved your sister to a toddler bed so you now get to sleep in a crib instead of a pack-and-play.  Hooray!

You still are the happiest baby and love people, and everyone loves your smile.  Especially Mommy : )  And you have figured out when I am near and lunge for me if we make eye contact.  It's all about the eye contact!

When you are unhappy or don't like something you growl at us... hopefully that will end as you get older... for both of our sake : )

You have gotten attached to your giraffe toy we got you.  And I started giving it to you when you go to sleep now and it helps soothe you... replacing your pacifier since you won't take one anymore.

You are such a joy and delight and you make every day a little more fun.  Mommy is so thankful for you Sunshine : )

Advent Begins

This is the second year we have celebrated Advent during Christmas time.  Advent is a celebration of both the arrival of Christ and his second glorious coming.  You can read more about Advent and what it is all about here. 

Our family has truly enjoyed celebrating Advent because it helps to focus our hearts on the true meaning of Christmas and that Jesus is such a reason to celebrate!  I literally tear up almost every time I read about worshipping Jesus as the newborn King.  Even in storybooks to Kay I just can't help it! And to even watch how excited Kay gets when we sing Away in a Manger that she asks to sing it over and over.  We do still do gifts on Christmas and stockings too, but Santa is not the central focus of our Christmas.  In fact, as we take this season to worship, pray, expect, rejoice, anticipate, and reflect upon Christ's birth and second coming, Santa just seems out of place.

I made this Advent calendar last year that holds each days devotional.  You can find the tutorial here.  Every night as a family we gather usually at the dinner table, and we use this devotional which was created by our pastor and his wife.  We light the candle for the corresponding week and in addition are also reading Luke 2:1-21, taking one verse at a time and each night adding a new one to it.  So by the time Christmas comes we will be reading the entire passage. 
We then turn the lights out and sing a few Christmas hymns by candlelight.  This is the girls favorite part of course! We make motions to the songs, and Kay has them memorized by like the second time we do them.  She has a crazy good memory!

And this is not the only time of the day we talk about Jesus's birth.

Every morning Kay can pull one book from our book basket under the tree that relates to the Nativity or the Christmas story.  I think I checked 11 out from the library and the rest I borrowed.  There are so many cute books for children that I may plan to buy some for our own collection for next year!

 

I also have an activity planned for most every day this month that Kay and I will do together.  Some activities include various crafts, baking cookies, making homemade ornaments, making a gingerbread house with Daddy, watching a Christmas movie together as a family, Kay drinking hot chocolate in her special snowman cup, and going to Santa's Wonderland (an awesome drive through world of Christmas lights).  I also plan to have a special Christmas Tea Party each year with my girls when they get older.  I just get excited thinking about it!

We sing ALOT.  I'm sure my neighbors think we are crazy folk up in here cause the music is loud and the singing loud too.  But who knew singing Christmas hymns could be so much fun?  Kay's favorite so far is Away in a Manger.  When I ask her what song she wants to sing she says.."I want one bout a manger!"  It's so cute! Jane loves to watch us and laugh.

It's also awesome to watch Kay understand some of what we have been teaching her so far.  I probably read/talk about the Christmas story to her several times a day and ask her questions as we read to see what she is comprehending.  She now loves to point out a star everywhere we go because she remembers reading about it in the Christmas story.

On Christmas day I will make cinnamon rolls and we will sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.  Only don't expect a regular candle in that cinnamon roll. : )  Oh no...instead... a trick candle will be used to represent the light of Christ and how it goes on forever and can live on forever in your life if you are a believer.  (The trick candle happened by accident last year when I pulled an old candle from my Granny's drawer.  So the tradition sticks!)

So these are just some of the fun things we do to celebrate Christmas as a family.  We pray God is given glory this Christmas in whatever way you choose to celebrate. 

Jane at 5 Months and My Farm Girl

My Janey girl...

You are 5 months old and I can't believe time is going so fast!  You are still my large, loveable, little lady and I wouldn't want it any other way : )  When people first meet you, they usually say, "Wow she has beautiful eyes, and boy is she chunky!"  I could just kiss those cheeks all day long.

At 5 months...

You are rolling everywhere.  I can't just lay you down anymore because you are all over the place. 

You are very strong and will jerk out of a grip if it's not tight. 

You smile ALL THE TIME.  I love this about you.

You are getting a tooth and it is sharp! Solid food is on the horizon and I have a feeling you are gonna like it....

You have a temper, uh, lets just say passionate personality : )

You love your sister.  She calls you Sissy and you think she is hilarious.  You especially love bathtime together with her and the two of you laugh uncontrollably.  It makes this Mama's heart overflow with joy : )

You love being close to Mama in the Beco and will stay content in it for hours at a time.

You are wearing 6-12 month clothes and wearing size 3 diapers, size 4 at night.

You have Eczema pretty bad and we have to take special care of your skin to make sure it stays moisturized.

You sleep in the pack and play in Mama and Daddy's room and prefer either your tummy or side.

You eat about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day, and usually wake 2x a night.  I am hoping you will start sleeping longer at night and can hardly bear to let you cry... you have improved so much in the last month so I have great hope for you my dear!

 I pray everyday that God will draw you to himself, and that will continue to be my prayer as long as I am alive and blessed to be called your Mother. 

Kay, could you be any cuter?

With Kay, it is never too cold for a popsicle.  Well actually I think it was low 70's this day but compared to the 90 plus weather it was cold enough to wear you boots and a cardigan : )  Only in Texas...

This is a farm girl at heart.  Look at her on that tractor!

Joey's parents, who we call Pops and Grammy, have chickens, goats and miniature donkeys.

Kay was not afraid AT ALL of the large, mostly tame, farm animals.  In fact I think the only thing Kay is afraid of is strangers...and just people in general : )  It's okay though, I was terribly shy when I was young too.  At least I know God is bigger than our weaknesses and he has all the power to help her overcome that in time. 

I see little tidbits of a servant's heart in you.  Your heart is tender, sensitive, and willing to help whenever I ask.  I think God may have given you the gift of service and I pray you will use it for His glory one day.  Serving the nations, the lost and hungry, the orphan and widow, your siblings, and maybe even a husband and children one day : ) 

Sometimes I still can't believe I have children...TWO children...on the hard days I feel like I am inadequate to do this...too weak and tired.  But God gently reminds me to have faith.  So I do, and I will, and I trust in my God who is the Giver...

of strength when I am weak, and faith when I my heart refuses to surrender.

My First Quilt!

This weekend I made my very first quilt!  I know how to do basic sewing and have made a few skirts and swaddling blankets for friends, but wanted grow my sewing skills through quilting.  I tend to get really ambitious about things like this and think that I can do it all by myself, but I'm so glad my mother-in-law Linda was here this weekend to teach me.  Otherwise I wouldn't have even gotten past the cutting part : )

Since this was my first quilt, I found an easy tutorial for a simple baby quilt here.  The lady said it only took her 2 hours to make this... yeah...unless you are an expert I don't see that happening.  It took us about 7 hours from start to finish. 

All the pieces were cut (the most time intensive part for me)

And here we go..... I used Joey's great grandmother's machine which still sewed great after all these years.  I found out mine wasn't sewing properly.  So that explained why I thought I couldn't sew straight lines!

Almost finished! 7 hours later.....



Ta Da! The finished product.

This was so fun for me!  It is not perfect by any means... but I love it.  If I were a perfectionist when it came to this I would have started over 100 times and it would have taken me 100 hours instead of 7.  And Linda was such a patient instructor as we hit several roadblocks along the way.

I hope you enjoy this quilt my sweet Jane.  The colors remind me of you. Cheery, bright and beautiful : )

180 Movie

Have you seen it yet?

Watch for FREE here.

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*Beware* Not suitable for children

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Busy Weekends

Well the month of September has been full for us and traveling every weekend.  So lots of pictures to follow!  The first weekend Joey spent at his best friends bachelor party for some man time while me and the girls went to visit my family in the country.
. 

If you can't tell... Kay is pretty much in her element here.  There is wide open space for miles and miles, including horses, cows, cats, a dog, fish, a pet turkey, and an occasional trapped skunk or racoon.

The best thing was that cousin Rosey was there too!  They loved to jump on the bed together and look at fun dolls.

And of course we always love to see Paw Paw!  This was also Jane's first trip here and I think there will be many more to come.

The next weekend we went to Tyler to visit Joey's family and go to some friend's wedding shower.  All 7 grandchildren (plus 1 on the way) were there.  I didn't get any pictures of all the cousins but they had a great time!

Kay and Pops ridin' on the tractor all day long!



Our dear Nana and PawPaw came to visit too. 

And finally a new family picture!

And this past weekend we went back to Southeast TX so I could attend my church youth choir's 10 year reunion.  SPAM (student performing arts ministries) would travel to different churches around the country to sing and do skits, hopefully inspiring them to know Christ and maybe start their own youth choir. This was a huge part of my growing up and it was good to see old friends.  My friend Blaire and I even got to sing a duet together we used to sing while on our choir tour. These are two of my best friends, Blaire and Heather, and our music minister Mark.

 My beautiful Jane is such a joy!

Kay thinking about what she can get into next....

See I told you there was a pet turkey.... I spent alot of time trying to chase him off our NEW VAN!  Well it's not new, but its new to us and we love it!

Me and my girls : )

She is 4 months now... I am soaking up every moment.

Sing a Tune

I like to make up songs for my girls.  Could you call that a hobby?  Don't laugh at me, I actually find it quite amusing! I did it alot when Kay was a baby, but now I don't have as much thought time to sit around and think up songs as often... : )    I also can forget a song as quickly as I make it up unfortunately..... so I want to write out all the songs I have written so far for my girlies so I will never forget them!

Kay's Lullaby -(my own version of a song my mom sang to me, tune of "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder")
Mommy loves her baby girl, she's the sweetest in the world.
Mommy loves her little bitty baby girl..
She's so soft and sweet, from her head down to her feet,
Mommy loves her little bitty baby girl.

Kay Noel, she's the sweetest in the world,
Kay Noel, she's the sweetest in the world,
Kay Noel, she's the sweetest little girl....
Mommy loves her little bitty baby girl.


Jane's Lullaby-(to the tune of a song book called "Tingalayo")
Jane Abigail, sweet little Momma's girl.
Jane Abigail, sweet little Momma's girl.
I loved you right from the start,
My little sunshine, you warm my heart.
I loved you right from the start,
My little sunshine, you warm my heart.


Our Goodnight Song- (tune of "Holy Holy Holy")
Goodnight little one, goodnight.
It's time to go to bed.
We've had a really fun day, but now we must lay down our heads.
I'll kiss you and I'll hug you,
I'll hold you in my arms too.
Mommy and Daddy, love you, yes we do.

Philippians 4:4  (tune of "Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory")
Rejoice in the Lord, always.
Rejoice in the Lord, always.
Again I'll say, Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4

Our Family Song (Probably Kay's favorite)- own tune
Who's in our family?
Who's in our family?
Momma, Daddy, Kay, and Jane!
I love our family.
I love our family.
Momma, Daddy, Kay, and Jane!


I had to do a bath song because it's a favorite time around our house!

Bathtime Song (to tune of hand slapping game I played with my friends in elementary school called "Miss Sue"... any girl remembers those hand slapping games if you went to public school)
Splish Splash (clap clap clap)
Splish Splash (clap clap clap)
If Mom said it's okay,
We'd stay in here all day!

Sittin in the bubbles, drinkin up the water,
Takin the soap and scrubbin...scrubbin scrubbin scrubbin.
Scrubbin....scrubbin, scrubbin, scrubbin.

ABCDEFG.... wash that soap right off of me.
HIJKLMNOP....  now it's time to say "We're clean!!"

Beautiful Song (can't remember where I saw this song, but I changed some words to make it my own)
Beautiful faces are they that wear... the light of a gentle spirit there.
Beautiful hands are they that do.... acts that are noble, good and true.
Beautiful feet are they that go.... swiftly to ease another's woe.

Brushin Your Teeth Song (wish I could say I made this one up, but I learned it off one of Kay's little shows)
Brush your teeth, teeth, brush your little teeth.
Brush your little teeth with me!
Oh, brush your teeth, teeth, brush your little teeth.
Cmon and brush em with me!

We're gonna brush em till they're nice and white!
So get your toothbrush and we'll brush em up right!
So brush your teeth, teeth, brush your little teeth.
Cmon and brush em,
Brush em, brush em, brush em.
Brush your little teeth with me!

And each of my girls have their special hymn.

Kay's Hymn:
How Great Thou Art
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed;

Refrain:
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Verse 2:
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
and hear the brook, and feel he gentle breeze
Verse 3:
And when I think that God his son not sparing,
Sent him to die - I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
Verse 4:
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home- what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Jane's Hymn:
Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

When we've been there, ten thousand years;
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise;
Than when we'd first begun.

So those are all the little songs we sing around here.  Hopefully there will be many more to come!

A School Lesson from Kay

U-Z is to be continued.....

How cute are my students??  : )

My Girls

Jane at 3 months

You are my sunshine!  You are the happiest little thing I have ever seen! You always have the biggest smile on your face if someone will show you some attention.  I think you are gonna be a people person.  You love to lay on your back and aren't very fond of tummy time.  You have slept mostly in your swing and will sleep in the pack and play on your back for about 30 minutes at a time, but we are gradually working on that : ) You sleep from about 8:00-3:00 at night then waking again at 6:00-7:00 and are up for the day around 9:00 a.m.  You are eating about every 2 1/2 hours and take about 3-4 naps a day. You now are fine in your carseat and can just chill out in it most of the time if we are out and about.  You have turned into a pretty laid back gal with a very happy and personable demeanor.  You love your big sister Kay and if you hear her voice you will just look and look for her.  You also can sit very well in the bumbo and like to look at yourself in the mirror.  You are quite plump, but in a good way, and I love to squish your little baby rolls : )   You have to wear a size 3 diaper at night and will probably be in that size during the day soon as well.  You are Momma's little sunshine and I look forward every day to spending time with you and wish I could hold you all day long!! 





Kay at 19 months

My little Kay Train, you are so funny!  And smart as a whip too!  Your personality has really shown itself in the past few months.  You love to be goofy and laugh at yourself saying "kay funny!"  You have a pretty extensive vocabulary and I can understand most everything you say.  You are an impersonater of all sorts, and will copy anything you see or hear, (including when Daddy makes loud spitting noises...)  You really are very shy at times and won't talk around people, but when you are comfortable you can be a wild child making Daddy and I laugh and laugh at your shenanigans. 

Some things you love:
Mommy (and are very clingy to me but I don't mind the hugs)
Your ABC videos and flashcards
Starfall.com (which you call starfi)
Barney
Jane (You love to hug her, tell her "Love you shane", and when you want to hold her you say "hold it?")
Pickles and Little Smokies are your favorites
Paci and Silkybear (which you now call silkybear "feecoh")
Grammy and Pops and Gran and Pawpaw
Feeding your babies and teddy bears
Ice
Looking at pictures on Daddy's IPhone
The Song B-I-N-G-O and dancing to your nursery rhyme CD

You have really soaked up everything I have been teaching you and things you have learned this summer:
You can identify every letter of the alphabet and each letter sound
You can count to ten (usually skipping 9)
You can identify a heart and triangle and sometimes circle
You know almost all your colors

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly you learn and I am so thrilled you love learning.  God has truly gifted you with a sweet spirit and a smart mind.  I can't believe how fast you are growing up and I love laughing with you, talking to you, and loving every bit of you!

When She Says HIS name...

This morning I tell her to grab a book before naptime.  I am going through the motions of motherhood... just doing what I do every morning with her, not soaking in HER.  Not soaking in the moment.  She grabs a bible story book we read sometimes.  Then I hear her say the name, "Jesus."  I stop and look at her.  She holds the book out to me with a longing look, waiting for me to read it.  I just sit and take in what her little voice just said.  Because whether or not she understands what that name is or means yet, I know it's not just a name.  That name is holy, righteous, powerful, perfect.

These are the moments as a mother when the reality sets in... my daughter doesn't know Christ.  This mission field is important.  This mission field is real and God has called me to it.  To these girls.  But I rest in God's grace, because the Lord can save my children in spite of my parenting, not because of it.  Only He has the power to change her heart... not me. 

So this morning I am praying that God will give me the grace to live like Jesus.  To love like Jesus.  To do all things for his glory and to set an atmosphere of worship in my home.  That the name of Jesus will be praised today.

And for the first time I hear her say His name, praying one day she can know the fullness of what it means, calling out to that name to save her. 

Here Lately...

Here lately has been very busy... in a good way : )  Jane is now 7 weeks old so I will give you an update of what life is like now and how Jane and Kay are doing.

The first few weeks of life with Jane were filled with lots of love but also lots of gassiness.  She cried alot and I cut out all dairy from my diet hoping it would help with her gassiness since she is nursing.  This seemed to help tremendously and now I am able to see her sweet demeanor and her wide beautiful blue eyes that aren't always filled with tears.  Those were some challenging first few weeks, but God's grace is sufficient and we made it through! 

Jane is a very good eater and will probably nurse anytime of the day if I would let her.  She loves to lay on her back on the floor and listen to everything going on around her.  She especially perks up when she hears Kay's little voice saying "Hi baby Jane!"  I am finally getting to know her now that the fussiness is over for the most part and I adore everything about her.  She is a whopping 13 pounds (according to our scale) and is definitely bigger at this stage than her big sister.  She is sleeping in the swing mostly for now in our room and when I can get her to sleep in her pack and play, she sleeps in there on her tummy.  She is sleeping a 4-6 hour stretch at night between feedings and then about every 3 hours after that.  But like I said the girl loves to nurse so sometimes I feed her on demand.  She loves to be held and hates her carseat so going out to eat has been somewhat of a challenge but this phase will soon pass and she will be in a high chair before you know it!  She has a dimple on her left cheek that is adorable and hasn't lost any of her dark hair yet.  I can't wait to watch her grow and look forward to all the "firsts" she will have.

As for big sister Kay...

Let's just say becoming a big sister hasn't slowed her down a bit.  She is 18 months old now and is quite the little busy body.  It has been a challenge finding activites to keep her busy while I take care of Jane, and she plays pretty well independently so as long as I can find things for her to do she is happy.  She loves to help me do whatever I am doing... she really loves the chance to help me make a tasty strawberry cake : )

She hasn't had any jealousy towards Jane and is really sweet to her.  She frequently comes to me asking if she can "Hold it?" or hold Jane in her language.  She has been a bit clingy to me lately however... possibly due to the 3 molars she is getting or just because she wants attention.  She loves going swimming or anything that has to do with water and calls her swimsuit her "shoop."  If she sees her "shoop" she immediately wants to put it on. 

I can't wait to watch these two become best friends : )

Jane's VBAC Birthstory

I told myself I need to write this soon while it is still fresh on my mind : ) It was in the middle of the night so some details are a bit hazy... but I will do my best to explain as much as I can!

My contractions actually started Monday night around 3:00 a.m., and they were just painful enough where I couldn't sleep, but still walk around and do stuff... so I didn't get any sleep that night but I thought maybe this is it!  I went in to my 39 week appointment Tuesday morning and I had not progressed any from the week before, so I just told myself not to get discouraged but to just continue to wait for the Lord's perfect timing.  Well... Tuesday night his timing was right!  Contractions started again around 11:30 p.m. and Joey had gone back to work to finish up any last minute things just in case.  I called him and said "Come home NOW!" haha.  We began timing them and they were lasting 6 minutes apart and 1 minute long.  After about 9 consistent contractions, they started getting stronger and harder.  It was really late and I told Joey we better call our friends the Gardenhires who were on call to come to our house if I went into labor.  Then all of a sudden the contractions started coming every 2 minutes, and I started getting nauseas... I said "We have to go NOW."  They were very painful at this point and it was getting harder to relax. Joey was frantically taking our bags downstairs and I was thinking thank God I had everything packed and ready.  The Gardenhires showed up  around 1:00 a.m. smiling and wanting to take a picture of the whole thing, but realized real quick that this was not the time for a photoshoot : ) 
We drove to the hospital while I told Joey to run every redlight as I was writhing in pain.  We got there and checked in, my contractions still coming about every 2 1/2 minutes.  This is where I now realize why people have home births.  Now I had to undress, get an IV (which took like 10 minutes and poking like 10 different times to find a vein), get checked, blood pressure cuff strapped on, monitors strapped around my stomach, and all while having the most pain I have ever experienced in my life.  Joey had to continually keep asking the nurses if they would just "hold on a second please" because they didn't seem to mind if I was in the middle of a contraction or not.  When the nurse did check me I was at 4 cm dilated, so they said I could be checked in since that is considered active labor. 
I finally was able to lie down in a hospital bed, and at this point that is all I wanted to do.  I cannot even describe the intensity of the pain that was going on, and all I could do was hug the pillow and beg Joey to pray over me.  After another hour or maybe more of this, the contractions began double peaking, lasting 2 1/2 minutes with no break in between.  It was at this point that I started throwing up.  I HATE throwing up with a passion.  This was no cake walk.  I told the nurse I wanted to be checked cause surely I must be in transition with all this going on.  She did and I was at 6 cm and completely effaced.  I was begging Joey for an epidural with every contraction, and I had to just realize after throwing up the 4th or 5th time that I didn't want to do this anymore... it seemed that everything I learned about natural childbirth seemed to be forgotten at that point.  With no sleep for 2 nights, no rest in between contractions and throwing up....I wanted the epidural and I wanted it NOW! haha.  I asked the nurse when I could get one and she called the anesthesiologist... since it was the middle of the night it took a while for him to get there.  After he gave me the epidural it took about 20 minutes for it to start working and they made me lay flat on my back so it could get evenly distributed in both legs. When it finally started working I was so relieved.  It seemed like everyone else was too.
We rested for a few hours, and by that point my Dad and Joey's Dad had arrived and came into the room to see us for a bit.  We had a few laughs and then the on call doctor came in to check me.  I was at 8 cm and she said she wanted to break my water.  I thought Lord please let me make it until my doctor can get here in time instead of the on call doctor.  After this I began to feel the contractions again and the epidural had worn off.  Come to find out the machine wasn't working right, so there I was again facing the contractions this time harder than ever.  I just gave in at this point and tried to relax as best I could, accepting each contraction as it came.  After about an hour of this they fixed the machine and gave me another dose of the medicine.  Then around 6:30 a.m. my doctor arrived!!!  I was so incredibly happy to see her!  She checked me and I was still at an 8 cm.  We thought it might be another few hours before I started pushing.  She came back about 25 minutes later and said "Ok, it's time to push!"  I was thinking oh my goodness!! We are so close!
My doctor just sat by my feet and was so encouraging and relaxed as she talked to me, telling me to do a few practice pushes.  She said "wow you are an amazing pusher!"  I pushed for about 30 minutes, the whole time them exclaiming how much hair they could see on Jane's head.  I was thinking "Yea she has hair!"  I asked for a mirror to see, then said "wait, nevermind I better not : ))   So after about 30 minutes of pushing out she came!  I actually was able to feel her come out which I wanted to feel, and I was so happy to see her!  She wasn't crying when she came out, but was wide eyed, and after about 7 seconds we heard her cry.  Then came the moment I so badly had wanted... they placed my baby on my chest and I just sat and rejoiced in my heart at my new precious gift and the absolute miracle of birth.  Only God could have ordained this.  I cannot describe how thankful I am to the Lord, who gave me the desire of my heart and allowed me to have a vaginal birth.  We love you Jane Abigail! 

Jane Abigail is Here

Jane Abigail Bellington was born on May 18, 2011 at 7:19 a.m.  She weighed 7lbs 13 oz, and is 21 inches long.  I was able to have a very successful VBAC and will post a birth story sometime soon.  Here are some pictures of our sweet baby girl!

We are enjoying being a family of 4 and are in love with Jane!