Judah's birth story:

I apologize in advance for the brain dump!! But here it is!

So, here goes: Braxton hicks contractions started before 30 weeks with this pregnancy. They came whenever I did too much and I was having regular, timeable bouts of them by 38 weeks. Two days after Thanksgiving, I had over 4 hours of intense contractions that came every 4-8 minutes. They fizzled out, but had me wondering if I was going to go the usual 42ish weeks like I had with the girls. Going off of my calculations like I did with the girls, my due date was December 3rd. I continued to have about 4 hours of early labor symptoms every other day or so from November 24th on up to the start of real labor. I was getting pretty anxious to have Judah by the end of November but thought that it would probably be another couple of weeks until we met. I had been having weekly visits with my midwife every Saturday, and on December 1st, I sure didn't think that that visit would be my last prenatal with her.

Monday, December 3rd was a really great day. I woke up feeling better than normal, not as achy as I had been. I also didn't have near as many achy contractions as I had been having in the weeks before. I had a friend and her little over for lunch and we actually got to hang out for a little bit. After they left, Elli was super snuggly and clingy to me. She even climbed up on my lap and fell asleep!! She doesn't do that very often and something in me knew that this would be her last nap on me as my baby. Since she is not a napper, she ended up staying up super late that night- until 11:30pm.

I went to bed then, too, only to be woken back up at 1am with contractions. (This is where I'm saying that labor started. Contractions never went away until I had Judah, almost 60 hours later.) They were pretty rhythmic, but it was so late and I was so tired that I tried to sleep through them. Well, I was able to sleep in little 8 minute increments for about two hours, since I was waking up with every contractions and had to breath through them. I got up at 3am, since it was getting to be too much while laying down with them. Aaron stayed asleep mostly through them, which was great since I really wanted to be alone through these. Contractions continued to come every 4-8 minutes apart and by the morning, I was having to moan through them. I thought for sure that he would be here by lunch time and was really loving laboring by myself.

Aaron had set up the pool early in the morning and I labored in there for about an hour before I got too uncomfortable. I also had called my midwife sometime early in the morning and she came over a few hours later to see how things we going.

(I have to add that I was doing everything I could think of to bring him down. We did side lying release on Tuesday and Wednesday, with almost every contraction I lifted my belly to position his head more on my cervix, I did leaning squats on the stairs, and stayed in a forward position as much as I could. I talked to him and my belly, telling him not to be afraid of coming down, and telling my body to open as a contraction would come. I also changed positions frequently, took showers, and stayed very hydrated.)

My midwife first came over during the late morning on Tuesday, December 4th. She took my vitals and listened to me have a few contractions. We decided that I needed to eat some real food, since I was running on low and hadn't eaten much of anything since the day before. I told her that I didn't feel like he was coming right this minute but that he was coming sometime very soon. I was definitely in active labor, but didn't need her to stay, so she left, telling me to call her as soon as I needed her to come over. I also had let my doula and birth photographer know that I was in active labor, just not wanting everyone to come over just yet. I continued to have contractions every 4-8 minutes apart, with them lasting a minute to a minute and a half each. At this point, my lower back was hurting the most, so I had my husband be on back pressure duty. After I ate some lunch, I decided to get back in the pool. As soon as I got in the pool, things started to feel different. I got really shaky and nauseous. I did end up throwing up everything that I had just eaten and decided to get back out. I called my MW back over since I thought for sure that I was transitioning. Her and her apprentice came over around 6pm. Things didn't really pick up or slow down after that. My doula came over around 10pm and at one point, I sounded like birth was going to happen pretty soon, because my midwives got all of their supplies out and set up. Sometime during the middle of the night I asked my MW to check me. She said I was very stretchy and that she could feel Judah's head, though it was still pretty high. I asked her to break my water, but she said that she couldn't get a grasp on it, because Judah's head was pressed up against my cervix. I accepted that and continued to labor on as I had been. My MW's would check his heart rate and he was always in the 150's. I ended up trying to sleep at some point early the next morning, but would wake up every couple minutes to moan through the contractions. They were still coming every 4-8 minutes apart.

Wednesday, December 5th, pretty much followed the same as Tuesday did. My midwives and doula left in the morning, after bunking out in the living room all night. We let the girls swim in the pool before we emptied it. (My mom had taken the girls over night and did so again Wednesday night. They were with her the whole time, mostly at her place, but throughout the day, they hung out a little upstairs here at home, too.) In the afternoon, Aaron and I went for a walk up to the park a few blocks away, and I would hang onto him whenever I had another contraction. When we got back, I called my midwife to ask her what to do. I felt stuck and wanted to just move- either back to not in labor, or in a more productive, intense labor. I was starting to loose energy and knew I wouldn't be able to rest in that state. I asked her about cramp bark and cohosh. She came over and we made some cramp bark tea first. I thought that the contractions might slow down with that, but all it did was make me nauseous. After that I started taking blue and black cohosh tinctures. They brought my contractions up to a steady 4 minutes apart, at least a minute long. I took the tinctures for a few hours, with nothing much changing. I felt like labor was picking up, but looking back, I think that was more me just getting more and more exhausted. I was starting to have a hard time getting on top of contractions and the contractions were starting to move down my right leg. It was almost like a charlie horse. At some point I gave my birth photographer the green light to come over. Later that night, after my midwives and doula came back, I asked my midwife to check me again. This was probably around midnight again, (sorry- foggy memory at this point!) Again, I was very stretchy, about an 8, and at about a +2 station. And again, I asked her to break my water. I really felt, and still somewhat do feel that if she would just break my water, I would have him faster. (My water was artificially ruptured during both of my other two labors, resulting in babies born a few hours later, so I thought breaking it would help bring him out sooner.) Again, I was told that J's head was pressed so much against my cervix that she couldn't grab the bag. By the time 4 am came, I was completely exhausted and wondering why my body wasn't letting go of this baby. I was very emotional and whenever a contraction would hit, I would start crying this high pitched, sad cry. I was done. I was scared why it was taking so long. I wanted to meet my baby, but more so, just wanted a break from the pain. I was worried that either Judah's cord was too short or that he was too big. (My second baby was a ten pounder- I was expecting a large baby.) After talking to my husband and midwife, I decided to go to the hospital. At this point, I had been in active labor for 51 hours!

(Thursday morning, December 6th:) As soon as we arrived at the hospital, my contractions slowed down to every 8 - 10 minutes apart. I knew in coming to the hospital meant that I was going to have some hoops to jump through. The first weird look I go was when I wanted to stay in my own clothes. The second was when I checked off a bunch of items on their consent forms. The nurse said she had never had anyone do that before. I went to the hospital to get some pain relief and also to check on Judah to make sure he wasn't too big and that his cord wasn't too short. The first thing they wanted to do was to check on Judah. I said that was fine so they hooked me up to the monitor to track his heart rate. After being connected to that, they wanted to check my cervix to make sure I was in active labor. After arguing about that, since my own mw had been checking me, I did consent to a nurse checking me. She said I was a 7 and at a 0 station. Not very surprising, since I had transferred. The doctor on call also said if he looked fine, then I could have a shot of something. Well, even though he looked fine with just monitoring his heart rate, that wasn't good enough and they wanted to monitor both his heart rate together with monitoring my contractions. That was a good 30 minutes of monitoring him before that we just had did for nothing! I was so sad about that- I just wanted some relief!! After monitoring him some more, I did get to have a shot of morphine that took the edge off for a whole 5 minutes. After the shot, the did give me an iv port, that way they could administer the meds and hook up an iv if needed. After about an hour, I was given a dose of fentanyl. The fentanyl was given to me right before six, which meant it was right before the shift change. The first doctor prescribed the fentanyl for once an hour as needed. About five minutes after I was given the fentanyl, the ultrasound tech came in. It was just when I was starting to feel some pain relief!! Of course that would happen, I thought. So, for the 45 minutes that the one shot lasted, I was not able to rest since I was having the ultrasound given to me. The good news was that Judah did not appear to be too big for me, though he was too far along to tell whether or not his cord was too short.

As soon as the ultrasound tech left, we got to meet the new doctor assigned to me. This woman came in telling me that I was going to kill my baby if I didn't do what she asked. She said she wouldn't give me any more meds because of Judah's heart rate. She was not happy that Judah's heart rate was dropping with contractions. It was dropping from the 150's to the 130's, and that is not something that is concerning! This doctor wanted to break my water and if in an hour my contractions hadn't picked back up, (they were coming only every ten minutes,) than she wanted to start pitocin. I told her that my contractions would pick back up if I got up and walked around. She then told me that I couldn't do that because they needed to monitor me continuously. I told her that I was going to have to walk around to get things moving. I said no to the pitocin and that I wanted to eat food. She (miraculously!) said okay to that, (although I was going to eat if I wanted to.) My midwives and I thought that if I ate some food, it would wake Judah up more on the monitors and that he would do what she wanted him to be doing, therefor allowing me to get the pain meds so I could just take a nap then have my baby.

Not two minutes after I drank some orange juice, Judah became very active and the monitor started going nuts. It was everything that this doctor had wanted to see. (She also told me that him not moving enough was going to give him cerebral palsy. I know...) When she came in about a half hour later, I pointed to the monitor and said see- he's doing exactly what you wanted. Now, can I have some meds?!?! Well, the look on her face said she was pissed, and she was. She still wanted to break my water, and I said I would think about it. She left and Aaron and my midwives all talked about it. No, I was not going to consent to pitocin, but yes, I would consent to my water being broken. (I was so relieved that it was going to be done!) We also thought, after it's broken, we can just head back home! I'll get the pain meds, and we'll be on our merry way. Yeah, not so much. As soon as the doctor broke my water, at 9:40am, a ton came out and it came out a little green. Yeah, not so great. And the meconium had been in there for quite some time, since it had completely mixed in with all of the water. My midwives said it wasn't too big of a deal, but I was a little freaked. The doctor then told me that the cord absolutely would have to be cut and he would have to be taken away from me so they could suction him right after birth. I asked her if they could do all of that on me, as I know they can bring the warmer over, and she said absolutely no way. So I asked to talk to the neonatologist just to be sure. We didn't see that doctor again.

The neonatologist was lovely. She was sincere and talked to me like I was a human. She showed me everything that they would have to do if in case Judah did aspirate. She also told me that no, he would not have to be suctioned if he came out crying. That was a huge relief to me. I silently prayed that he would. Things really picked up after my waters were broke and I had some food in me, surprise, surprise. Since there was meconium in the water, I decided against another round of the fentanyl, even though I desperately wanted it. It was just time to get him out.

Around 10am, the midwife on call came in to see how things were going. This happened to be a midwife of a client that I had doula'd for last year and I knew that she was also bad news. She was pretty shady then, and had done some not so great things to my client back then. She left as soon as she came in, and didn't even acknowledge me. Great, I thought, though I didn't mention any of that to my team until after I had Judah. Around 10:30 I got in the shower and that was really nice, though I couldn't handle contractions alone at that point. My back labor was out of control and I had to have someone or something pressing up on me throughout the entire contraction. So, I got out of the shower and labored next to the bed. I didn't put any clothes on either after that point, which looking back on, I must have looked insane: stark naked, with a henna'd belly and my giant mop of dreads on top of my head. I was also pretty much screaming through contractions at this point. My throat was sore for days after I had him. My last hour of labor was spent leaning up against the bed, while the nurse held the monitor in place and I squirted amniotic fluid all over her shoes as she knelt next to me. I would grab onto my midwives hands and we would do tug of war during a contraction. Aaron was in charge of my back labor. I was starting to feel that deep, big pressure that took me a few contractions to realize that it was his head that I was feeling so low.

(As I was reading through this one more time before I submitted this, I realized that I hadn't mentioned that I was pushing since some time on Wednesday. I wasn't pushing with every contraction, but more than not. I really tried to listen to my body, and was also trying to bring Judah down. It wasn't until I felt his head right there, that pushing got really effective. So I say that I pushed for over 24 hours, but REALLY pushed those last three or four pushes!)

Then, some time after noon, the nurse asked if she could check me. I (my have yelled,) told her no and went into another contraction. After that, I opened my eyes to see the hospital midwife come in with (what seemed to me to be,) 5 people with her. Immediately I knew I had to get Judah out, and that I didn't want her to touch my baby. It was that fight or flight instinct that came out. I yelled out that I needed to switch positions and jumped up on the bed. Thankfully, it was still upright, so I climbed on it backwards and grabbed the top for leverage. After one push, I yelled at Aaron to put pressure on my perineum for me. Everyone around me scramble for gloves. Aaron started pushing on my back, silly guy, so I yelled that I would just do it myself. After another push, Judah's head was out. One more push and I caught my baby. I untangled his cord that was wrapped around his leg and brought him up to my chest. He cried immediately and I just held him, not letting anyone see him. I was in mama bear mode with that midwife behind me. Judah was born at 12:15pm.

After a few minutes, (long enough to make sure he got most of his cord blood,) I finally turned around. I held Judah and he nursed right away, but about a half an hour after he was born, my placenta still wouldn't come out and the contractions I was having with it were just as bad as labor was. Aaron then cut Judah's cord and shortly after that, I asked the hospital midwife to leave, since she was creeping me out and trying to pull my placenta out before it was ready. After she left, I sat in bed for another hour and half trying to birth the placenta out. I was miserable and felt like I didn't get to bond with Judah. I was able to birth J's placenta two hours after he was born, when I got up and sat on the toilet to do it. That thing did not want to leave me!! After that, I feel like my birth high finally kicked in. The hospital staff left me alone, mostly, and then we got a new nurse who listened to me and didn't make a face when/if I refused something.

Judah saw a pediatrician for his newborn exam and while the doctor was very nice, also pulled the dead baby card on me for not consenting to the vitamin k shot. They also were concerned that we declined glucose testing on J for his large size. Judah was 8lbs, 7oz!! Large?!?! He was my smallest baby! That time, it was me looking at them like they were insane. Because I hadn't been tested for GBS and my status was unknown, the hospital wanted us to stay for 48 hours but we checked ourselves out a few hours after he was born. My midwife would be checking in on me and I was finally feeling pretty good so we decided to check ourselves out. Since neither the doctor nor the midwife cared to check in on me, leaving was actually pretty easy. After we go home that night, we had two full days of baby bliss, only to be woken up Saturday night with a fever. Combining all of my symptoms together sounded a lot like an infection, so we headed to the hospital, ( a different one, mind you.) I was admitted for endometritis and stayed in the hospital until Tuesday afternoon. After starting on some pretty heavy antibiotics that Sunday, Judah's little tummy has been a mess ever since. I think we are finally coming out of that, thanks to lots of patience, probiotics, my elimination diet, and colic drops.

Almost there!

Okay, let me try this again. I just wrote up an entire blog post then it disappeared! So here's the shorter version:

Last Saturday I had a friend surprise me with throwing me a mama blessing! We did my belly cast and everyone brought beads and gifts to celebrate. I seriously have the best friends ever. They are such an amazing group of women and I'm so excited to be bringing a new life into that circle. 

And here we are today, at 38 weeks.  It's getting so close to baby time and I'm so ready! We have checked everything off of our lists and are now just waiting on this little boy to come join us earthside. Now that everything is done, I've been trying to finish up some knitted things and start on some small Christmas gifts.  Just last night, I finished the sweater I'm wearing in the pictures below. It's the first sweater that I've made for myself that actually fits me the way I wanted it to! I'm pretty excited about it and plan on living in it all winter :) Ravelry notes are here.

I feel like you need a drum roll before you scroll down to see this big belly on me! He's definitely out there and I'm totally in that last month of largeness! 

As for a baby update, J's been head down for over the last month, and is active as ever. He's actually hurt me before and I have to do counter pressure on my belly because he's so strong!   We are gearing up for a super low key Thanksgiving tomorrow, with just us and my mom here. She's been staying with up for the last month and her presence here has been SO helpful! Just having her here for the girls to hang out with while I rest. I'm definitely feeling inward and calm right now, like something big, (birth!) is going to happen any day now! 

My next post should be on the girls. They are learning and growing so much! 

Baby BOY!!

Earlier this month, we found out that we are expecting a little boy!! We could not be more excited with that news!!  I think I knew before hand, as everything I had made before finding out for this baby was all blues, teals, and greens. I kept telling myself that even if we had another girl, she would look great in blues.  Low and behold, mama intuition was right. He's a he.  And apparently, with my ever moving hands, he will be a very well dressed he at that. 

I bought Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings a few months ago with plans to sew some clothes up for this little one. Little did I know how addicting the little Quick Change Trouser pattern would be!  So, our little guy now has 5 pairs of reversible pants that are waiting patiently until December to be worn. They are teeny tiny and I can't stand how cute the patterns are on them! 

I'm sure there will be more sewing out of this book for our guy.  I think he might need a spring time jacket, yes? 

Mama Blessing:

Here are a few photos of a mama blessing I had the honor of hosting last week. It was an amazing night filled with beautiful women, yummy food, and lots of love. 

And so it begins.

So, what does this pregnant mama do, just a few days before she hosts a mama blessing in her home? Naturally, she decides to pull up the carpet, yes? From the entire house, yes? The floors are CLEAN now! I mean, I can live with paint splatter for a while, but clean floors, oh my! I'm in love! Oh, man, I don't know if the "nesting" every left after I had E, but it's totally on high alert these days.

See what I mean? I cannot stop making, cleaning, organizing, and just doing. At all.  :)

(Also, the carpet was coming up sometime during the summer, as we are getting it professionally refinished. I could not stand how it would never get clean and did not want a tiny baby rolling around all over it, come December.) ((Also, just realized I already had a tag for "nesting." It really hasn't left, has it?))

And there will be three!

The silence over here has been purposeful, as I wanted to wait a while to come out and say it in person to my family and close friends. I'm pregnant again!! This baby was a complete and utter surprise back a few months ago. Addy actually prompted me to go check the calendar after she told me she wanted to be my doula when I have another baby. Um, another baby?! I thought, then ran to the calendar to check my dates and sure enough, she knew already. I was a few weeks late by that point, but couldn't even fathom another baby until I had taken the test. Sure enough, that second line popped right up as soon as the stick was wet!

Well, whoa. After all the crazy in February with Aaron and buying the RV, selling a ton of stuff, and mentally saying goodbye to the house, I had to completely switch gears! No, I did not want to give birth in the RV. No, I did not want to move an hour away from my amazing tribe of women here in Topeka.    It really helped that the very next day after we found out about this pregnancy, Aaron received his first job offer! Thank you, Jesus! Yes, we could now stay since Aaron's new job is a lot closer than his old one!

So, yeah. We took the house off the market and put the RV up for sale. (Someone, buy our RV!!)  We bought a couch. We bought a car!  (Thank you, Kim, for the help with that!) I planted flowers! & potatoes! Because, I can garden again and not have to worry about moving! I started knitting again for this baby. Omygoodness, these tiny projects that finish up so fast!  We accepted our new normal with grins and hugs and began to move through everything.

That's what has been going on over the last two months in our world. Lots of changes and figuring stuff out. But, such is life, eh? Some day, I still hope to have an RV, (or even a house boat!) and travel with my family.   Right now, I'm focusing on growing another life with my body, taking care of my girls and my love, and changing as a woman again! A mom of three!! Holy moly. I'm excited. Christmas is going to be amazing this year :)

Baby love!!

Elliot Elizabeth is finally here!!! She was born on Wednesday, October 28th, (only 12 days after her due date.) She was 10 lbs, 4 oz and 21 inches long. I cannot believe how big she is!! She doesn't look big to me but maybe that's because it seems like Addysen has grew a foot over night!
This was my first homebirth and boy was it intense!! Addysen was born in the hospital and I was very disappointed with all the 'protocols' that come with that. I cannot imagine a more different birth this time around. So here is the short version of what all happened.

I woke up Tuesday morning with some mild contractions. Since I had been having those for the last month I didn't count them or get excited. Addy and I just hung out all day while Aaron went to school and just tried to stay normal. After Aaron came home, around 4pm I decided to count them. So, Aaron and Addy decided to carve her pumpkin while I wrote down the contractions. I wasn't surprised when they were coming 5-6 minutes apart and I tried really hard not to get excited. We then had supper and eventually Addysen went to bed. After that I called my midwife and let her know what was happening. I was still contracting every 5 minutes and they were actually getting a bit stronger. She told me to call back in an hour and let her know what was going on. Around 930pm I called her back, to my disappointment, letting her know that they had died down a lot and were now coming every 15 minutes. BOOO!!! :( Somehow I think she knew something was going on because she told me she might talk to me again that night...

After I talked to her I decided to take a shower, since throughout the last month showers have really killed them off if it was just prodromal labor. During my shower, I had 4 more contractions!! I was so excited!! They kept coming after that and called my mom to come over to keep me company since Aaron had went to bed. She came over and saw how real they were and had me call my midwife back. She called her assistant and they were both here around 130am. I then called my doula, to let her know that I thought it might be really happening and she came over a bit after 2am. Aaron and my mom had already started filling the birth pool and we all just hung out in those early hours. I took a few showers when I needed to cool off and ate toast and bananas to keep my energy up. Sometime contractions would slow way down and I'd doze off for about 2 minutes, as if my body was giving me a break through all of it. Oh, how I loved those breaks!!

My sister showed up around 6am and stayed the rest of the day. When it started getting light out it really was starting to hit me that, yes, this might really be happening!! I was sure at any minute it was still going to stop, but at 9 I was checked at actually dilated at to 7cm!! woah!!! I couldn't believe I had done that on my own. When I had Addysen I was only dilated to a 4 before I got an epidural so this was way different!! and on my pain scale I still only at a 7. I thought, yeah I can do this!! It's really amazing how different natural contractions are compared to pitocin induced contractions. I just let my body work and moaned a LOT!!! I didn't think I would be so loud!! I had already labored in the pool for a few hours and decided to get back in around 1130 to start pushing...

And I pushed and pushed and pushed. I never felt like the baby had dropped, even when I was pushing... This I realize was because she had no room to!! about an hour later my midwife wanted to check me again and see what the hold up was. I got out of the pool and was checked. I was fully dilated but had a lip that her head couldn't get around. (This was just like Addysen's birth, where I pushed for two hours to get around that!!) So she held it back while I pushed Elliot's head around it. About this time was when my water finally broke and was also when I decided I was done and I couldn't do it anymore. I kept screaming, 'I can't do it!!' and everyone would say, 'but you are doing it!!' I thought I was going to die!! Those last ten minutes before she came out were the most intense minutes of my life. I never thought it was going to end but I just had to get her out...

And then she was here!!! I felt so good immediately that all the pain and everything around me just melted away. She is so amazing and I couldn't get enough of her. This was at 104pm and took place on the floor in my bedroom. We waited until well after the cord was done pulsing before it was cut and my midwife showed me my placenta and all the parts to it. That was just fascinating. It was huge too!!

About an hour after Elliot was born she was weighed. I couldn't believe that's how big she was!! No wonder I was in labor for so long!!

I really cannot explain how happy I am with her birth. There is no way I would have been able to do that in a hospital. I would have had a cesarean for sure. Elliot's shoulders did get a little stuck and she had to get one arm out before she came all the way out. I also gave birth to her on my hands and knees, so yeah, there is no way that all would have worked out anywhere else. I also cannot believe how good I'm feeling. Seriously, I have very little pain at all. My milk is coming in today and Elliot is such a piggy!!! She started nursing about fifteen minutes after she was born and hasn't stopped.

God is soooooooo good!! I am so in love with my family and cannot believe this new chapter has already started in our lives. Addysen is adjusting so well and just loves her little sister. Aaron is also looking quite comfy with his girls and I am loving this life given to me.

HO hum!!

I think I'm at a good place right now. After debating with Aaron on him being gone for school I think I was spoiled last week with him being present. Even if he is sitting next to me working on school work, it's so much better than him being at school. We've been busy and slow this week but the mix seemed just right for the little time we have now before this baby comes.

Addy has been in swimming lessons since the beginning of September and I finally got some pictures of just her and Aaron. This turned out the best.

Addysen couldn't be more happy to not participate and just float around in the deep end with daddy. Her little suit is too small for her too which makes her look like such a big girl, but where do you get a suit in the middle of October??? I've been trying to make it to all of her lessons but sometimes I just need to stay home and have some time to myself, (which I'll comment on again.)

Addy has been quite the artist lately. She really enjoys drawing these "flower smiley faces" as she calls them. I think they are pretty neat and might just embroider one here pretty soon. I don't think I ever posted on it, but I have done that with her art work before. It's super easy and just a great way to showcase children's artwork... I'll have to do that now.

The picture above makes me laugh, only because we both did our hair and were not wearing sweats. We got ready to go grocery shopping... because we don't go anywhere!! That's all we did that night. We went shopping and came home. No dinner or seeing friends or anything remotely fancy. Just groceries. I love my husband!!
And here is the sweetie after she got some new chap stick!! I swear, give her some chap stick and she is good for at least an hour. I bring some to church every Sunday.

So here is a Christmas gift protocol that Addysen has already claimed. I am making most of our gifts anyways but I thought adding a little ornament wouldn't hurt either.

He's so cute, too!! I just mentioned that I stay home from Addy's lessons every once in a while and this is what I did this week. I know it's a silly little project but it came out cute enough. That night I also started - and finished this blanket.
I bought the fabric a few months ago with all intentions of making a blanket for baby out of it. I just didn't realize how much fabric I had. So, the blanket is for the girls, not just baby. Addy loves snuggling with it already, and I have to say, who doesn't want a blanket for the fall made out of flannel AND satin?? yum yum, I want one.


And my little scarf here, is made by crochet, not knitting. I've been doing my scarves by crocheting just because it is so much faster and I really wanted something for myself. I never make anything for myself so of course I didn't have any yarn specifically for me. This is all scrap yarn I had, hence the different lengths in colors. But it turned out just long enough, just the right colors mixed, just right. And I get to wear it!

And this was made for my lover! I haven't knit him a hat until this one, mostly because of intimidation, I have to admit. I wanted him to like it, not because I made it but because it turned out to be a wearable hat.

And he wears it.


*Other thoughts*
I am overdue, again!! I really don't mind this time around, as I tried really, really hard not to get my hopes up that this girl would show up anytime before yesterday. I've been having a ton of contractions though for the last month and I hope they are doing some work down there!! Sometimes they hurt, but for the most part they are very mild. Aaron gets a kick out of me chanting to my big uterus "keep coming!!"

The sun finally came out yesterday. It was so good to see it!! I was able to get out an go thrifting with my mom, but actually didn't buy a thing. I guess I've been in a more frugal mood lately.

Addysen has been painting like a mad woman lately!! Everytime she does, she shells out at least 6 or 7 paintings. I love them and save them all.

Thanks for reading!
God BLESS!!

Due today!

I made this shortly after finding out about this pregnancy while I was enrolled in a metals class. I think I'm ready to hold my baby like the woman depicted here. Any day now.

I'm just a monster!!

not much blogging these days because not much has been happening around here. I'm very pregant! Due in two days and I just don't have much motivation to do anything. I think my last nesting bust was last month and am very glad that I got everything done on my "list of things to do before the baby comes."

That was taken a week ago and is probably the last time I wore jeans. I'm loving the comfy clothes lately.
Well, wish me luck and pray that this baby comes soon!! (I dare not say 'on time'- that sort of became a stigma after miss Addy was so late...)

It's been a while

but I've still been living, loving, crafting, and baking (a baby!) Yes, I'm still very pregnant, actually reached full term on Friday!! and am pretty sure ready to have this baby. Our birth tub arrived in the mail over a week ago and we have yet to do a trial run, (this week hopefully). I forgot how big you get during the last few weeks! I was all proud that I was staying smaller this time around but then it hit! I am officially a big girl and am okay with that! I keep telling myself that this baby cannot stay in here forever and someday I will not have sausage toes!! Here are Addy and I tonight just as the rain hit:

Notice a few things: the shawl I'm wearing is my first knitting project I did back in May? June? There are so many holes in it but is sure did keep me warm with the wind tonight. The skirt I'm wearing I just finished last night. The pattern is from that book again, Weekend Sewing, by Heather Ross, and I'm loving it. It's a wrap skirt so I'll be able to wear it well after this baby comes. I did add extra panels though because of the big girl factor.
I think I need to back up a few weeks though. Addysen started swimming lessons with dad a few weeks back. She loves the water and I am so thankful that Aaron agreed to go with her because there is no way I am getting into a swim suit! She was so excited to start!

I have to show this - we got a new bed and I love it! no more dips in the middle and I can actually lay on my side without feeling like I'm going to fall over. I also brought the fall bedding up so it was hard getting out of their this morning.

Here is Addy before church this morning. Look at these tights! Aren't they just so stinkin cute! I wish they had them in big girl size! Oh and the skirt was made about a week ago. I think she needs a lot more of them - (seriously, the best ten minutes spent on a sewing machine... it's so satisfying!)

So I am trying to dry out some lavender to mix in with rice for a rice bag. I've really got to look around and make sure I'm doing it right. It can't be too hard can it? I'm going to make one for my labor and another couple for gifts. I will let you know how they turn out.
Another easy, satisfying, 20 minute project is making pants. I've made Addy 3 pair and the baby 1 so far and have others that just need elastic. And these pair I made using and repurposed pillow case:
The pair I made for the baby is the matching pillow case and I'm thinking I will need some also, since I have the flat sheet to go with.
That's just some of the making that's been going on around here. There has been lots of Christmas knitting, which deserves it's own post, and all around nesting going on though.
Tonight, Aaron and Addy watched the storm come in. These two just melt my heart. I love watching them love on each other. Life is really too good here. God Bless!

Lately

There has not been too much going on here lately. I haven't been baking a whole lot or making too much. Addy did get a new skirt this past week and there has been some Christmas knitting going on, as I would like to have all my projects done before this baby comes. And let me tell you, she is coming. That's all I could think about last night was, she is coming! This bump is getting out of control! It is big and round and beautiful and getting in the way more and more. Addy loves on it all the time, then she has to go over to the ultrasound pic we have framed of her and say hello. I also think I have what you call "thunder thighs." They are ridiculously hideous and I am not wearing shorts until next year.
okay, enough of this babbling... onto important things:
Monday night was the first night of intern committee. We get a new intern every year at church and this will be my second year serving on the committee. It was very nice and refreshing. Aaron will be presenting a paper at a conference in a couple of weeks. I get to go with him and we might stay at a bed and breakfast. I am super excited about both of those! I ordered a birth tub last week. Hopefully it will get her by next week so we can master how that works.
How about some pictures now...

This is one of my favorites of Addy. I used my canon rebel something or other film camera and haven't used it since these pics were taken back in April. I think I need to get it out again pretty soon for this new babe.

And this is just Addy being Addy last week. She is getting into dress up and I'm loving it.

Baby Kimono

Yesterday I fell in love with my sewing machine again. It's been a few weeks since I have started (and finished) a sewing project so I was greatful when a few hours opened up on me. Aaron gave me a copy of Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross for my birthday and I have been dying to make something out of there. This is what I came up with:

Isn't it so adorable! and the sewing part took a little less than an hour! Talk about satisfying. I plan on making a few more for her and maybe for a few lucky friends. And yes, that's the baby belly too at the bottom of the picture. A few more weeks!!
I also wanted to sew something for Addysen. She is really into her animals right now. As long as there are multiples so that she has a family, she doesn't care what kind they are. I thought she needed something for them. So she got some super miniature bedding:

And then supper was one of my favorite soups to make this time of year. It's butternut squash soup with cheese ravioli. It's so easy to make. you just boil the squash down with some water and throw it in a blender. Then add ravioli after.

It's September!

I cannot believe it is almost autumn! We have been loving the Midwest weather of the warm days and cool nights. A few of our activities include worm hunting with dad:



On September 1st I made pumpkin pie and it's almost gone! I think I may be making this once a week. I also used my bread machine for the first time and it is soooo yummy! I think I need to make some of these for my bread!

Yesterday Addy and I had momma/baby mani/pedi's! it was so cute, she loves being a little girl (even though she worm hunts!) There is something about those little toes that gets me every time.



This bump will not stop growing!
I am 34 weeks today and literally had to push this baby out of my rib cage last night. She gets her little feet stuck in there quite often and it is oh so painful!
Everything is going great other than that though and I am getting more and more anxious to meet this little girl.
Aaron, Addy and I are going out to play tennis! Yes, I am still playing tennis, (actually we just started this last week,) but I really enjoy it. It is such a site to see me running after the ball, (and Aaron's eyes bulge out of his face telling me to stop!) I will get pictures of that for some entertainment!
I hope everyone is enjoying this late summertime! God Bless!