Payson Crawling

I am going to pretend that it hasn't been 8months since my last blog post.  Enjoy the video...

We have been wanting her to crawl for a while and I have been SUPER paranoid that she was weird and wasn't going to crawl.  (Yes Mom's of 4 still freak out about new things their babies do!).  She chased the kids around for a while after the video ended getting those fruit loops.  And the bigger kids had a BLAST making a trail for her :)  Such sweet sibling fun!!

What lies ahead

I have decided not to overwhelm myself and try to recap the last 3 months and post pictures and such.  I am sorry!  For most of you follow me on facebook so that's not going to be a big deal.  I am going to attempt to keep up again here on the blog and not do facebook.  I am going to give up on facebook mostly because it consumes me and I lack the self control to limit myself.  I am entering into a new season of life, mother of 4, and school is starting soon for Jackson.

He will be attending the Woodard Academy this year and I am excited!  I have found some great curriculum for him I think so I am optimistic.  He is in first grade this year.  Addison & Kelson will be joining us informally for Bible, PE, and group reading.  Addison is pre-k and will be doing formal math and writing as well as some phonics as I can fit :)

I am transitioning into working mostly weekends.  I am hoping that it will enable me to focus more energy into the week and school without  being so tired.  We'll see how it goes.

BSF starts September 11, I am super uper excited about it!?  If you don't go to BSF, think about joining me!  There are classes all over, but if you live in the area I'd LOVE for you to join me in Sycamore!  Jackson will be working up at Ace during that time as he has graduated from the class offered at my class.  I still have to work out the details with the Boss up there at Ace but I am excited for him to try a bit more responsibility.

I think that's what lies ahead in the next few months, I will share more as we move forward.  I wish my blog were more uplifting and life transformational to read however it's really always just been a way for my family to follow our life out here 1700miles away.  Unfortnately I am just not the writer in the family.  That's Katie's job :)  So I will leave you with...wise words? nope...

  Hopefully a source of a good giggle :)  Here he is folks...Samurai Kelson all ready for our family talent show!  Yes it is a tutu, Kimono and Viking hat!  The kid has style! :) (and a great sense of humor!)

Payson Joy

 She is 3 months old today and full of smiles!!

Her eyes have stayed blue so I don't think I will get another brown eyed babe out of her.  Her hair, what's left of it is still dark though it seems to be coming back in lighter.  We shall see the color of her locks :)

What do you think?!

Her brothers and sister LOVE her!  They get a kick out of getting her to smile.  They fight over who gets to hold her and lay next to her.  Yet they don't seem to fight over who throws her diaper away, oh wait yes they do but no one wants to do it! :)  

No she is not sitting up just propped up on the couch :)

She can sleep through the whole night as she proved when I went back to work and refused to take a bottle for daddy.  She has since given in but not wihotu a fight!  

She is super tall, long, however you describe her, already needing 3 to 6m length.  

She is a fantastic baby!  

Belly Cast pics

Here are some pictures I took this afternoon of Payson in "my belly" :)  She is a bit too old for this as she doesn't quite fit as snug as she did at birth but it's been a little busy around here and I haven't gotten to the pictures until now.  I like them tho even if she is too big.  She is 14 days today and a GREAT BABY!  All she does is eat and sleep like a champ! :)  

My favorite.  If you come over you may see this framed on a wall in my house!

I really like this polaroid one

And I am partial to this one too :)

Which one is your favorite?!

More Pics from Payson's Birth

My amazing friend and Doula, Kim Wheaton took some pictures after Payson was born.  The only downside of this labor/delivery--it was too short, lol!  Seriously though, I was really hoping to capture the entire beautiful process that birth is in pictures and she came so fast we just got a few :)  But I am NOT complaining!!  Thank you Kim for these wonderful photos!  And if anyone is considering giving birth WITHOUT a Douala, please reconsider!  Midwives, Douala's home-birth all amazing!  God's gift of babies and birth is NOT a medical emergency, it is a gift, a blessing to be fully embraced and enjoyed!  (I am not at all biased, :) ) I have had 3 hospital births, all natural, and 1 home-birth and I so wish, and I think I can speak for John too, that we would have done them all at home for what an awesome family experience it was!!!  Thank you Genesis Family Midwifery for making it possible!!

Now, on to some pics :)...

Probably 20 minutes old :)

Daddy cutting the cord

Calling Carolyn to tell her about our rapid arrival :)

The back of the head of my WONDERFUL nurse/midwife!  Karen, you are a gifted woman!!!!

Me & my midwife, Christina!  She is so calm!!

The pool that never got used.  Thanks Kim for letting us borrow it ! :)

These ladies will FOREVER hold a special place in my heart!!

Here come the rest of the kiddos, we woke them about 530am to come see their new sister!  

Getting checked out

Something was worrying Jackson, lol!  Probably her umbilical cord, he said all week "that thing is grossin' me out!"

Weighing in at 7#13oz Christina tried to get a leg to stick out for the picture but at the last second she pulled it back into the sack! :)  She's in there tho!

Love this pic of Christina counting her respirations and listening to hear heart.  Those gentle hands, may God bless the work she does!!

Mamaw and a full lap!!  Is there room for more?!! :)

Laughter!  This birth/delivery was a special one for sure!  I love Christina's smile!  Me?!  well I look silly, lol.

And much to my disappointment the picture of me & Kim is too blurry :(  I will have to get a shot with her son!!!

Thank you Kim for all your wonderful support! I remember I called her and a contraction came at the same time and she said on the phone "you are doing awesome, I am on my way"  

P.S

I also want to thank Stephanie Rosekelly Midwife, for all her support during my pregnancy!

He's 6!!

 Jackson celebrated his 6th birthday and for his "big present" he got a baby sister lol!
The day started off being awaken to come and meet Payson.  He WAS super thrilled to share his birthday with his new sister!  It was precious!  Then John & him went to Eggsclusive for breakfast, just the 2 of them (THANK YOU CAROLYN for staying with the rest of us so that special engagement could be kept!)

Here he his all set ready to go to breakfast!  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture with John!! :(

For his big present we got him a bigger lego set.  He has a friend who is twice his age and has a bunch of Star Wars lego ships so needless to say he is has been asking for one for months!!  We decided for his birthday is when he will get a big ship/set to build.  He was ecstatic!

He is so proud of himself!    John & him worked for a couple hours putting it together!!

We got gifted a cake and it was great!  HUGE!!  Thank you Jill!!!!  Jackson is in love with everything Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SuperHero's and Star Wars.  Jill picked him a TMNT cake!!!

Cute right?!

He was super embarrassed when everyone was singing to him.  

Jackson is growing into an amazing boy!  He accepted Christ as his Saviour this past Christmas and I have seen God work in his life so much!  His heart for his siblings has grown!  He prays prayers that are genuine and deep in his own 6 year old way!  I can't wait to see what this year has for him!  I cannot pray enough prayer of blessing and protection over my children.  It makes me cling to my God's love for my children in a way I never have experienced!

Thank you God for this gift, our firstborn, our eldest son, Your Child, Your work in progress!!

Payson's Birth Story

I am still in awe of how fast and AMAZING this birth was!  God is so gracious!!

I awoke at about 145am with contractions.  I had downloaded this neat "contraction timer" app for my itouch and I have been eager to use it :)  So i woke up and started tracking these contractions.  For the first 20minutes I laid in bed with them coming about 5 min apart and last 45sec.  I decided I would get up and walk around and see if they stopped, since these were the first steady contractions I'd had so far.

I changed into my "birthing outfit", well half of it anyway.  I had this great plan to try and look cute, I know vain, but what can I say?!  This is my first home birth and since I wanted a lot of pictures taken I wanted to at least appear put together :)  So I tied my green sarong around my waste and was going to match it with a white sports bra on top.  The top never got changed out of the horribly old and beat up Judson College tshirt of John's.  The outfit just doesn't have the same, "all natural girl" look to it  I had dreamt, lol.

At 0245 I decided to wake John up since the contractions were pretty strong and though I was able to hum and sway through them I wanted his company.  I grabbed the box of Farkel dice, thinking we could roll some dice in between contractions.  Lol, that never happened either :)  I had gotten the pool out of the basement and set it in the living room.  We brought it into the kitchen to air up, so the pump wouldn't wake the 3 sleeping children upstairs.  John went about setting up the pool while I used the counter top as a balance point and swayed through some pretty intense contractions.  I was humming the song "I love you Lord" (you know, "I love you Lord and I lift my voice, to worship you, ooh my soul, rejoice.  Take joy my King in what you hear, may it be a sweet sweet sound, in your ear" )  The humming totally helped!  And my sister, Kristy, had reminded me through text to keep my eyes, hands, and mouth relaxed.  I visualized everything being open and relaxed waiting for the baby.

Cute sarong, HORRIBLE shirt!  Notice orange cup on the right?  Yup, thats Farkel :)

At 0300, after an hour of solid contractions I called my Doula, Kim Wheaton, and told her my progress.  She said she was an hr away and I told her I was ready for her to come.  Then I called Christina and she was also an hr plus away.  I settled in for more labor, eager to get to the point when I could get into the pool! :)  (that never happened either :) )

0320 my water broke with a good strong contraction, me standing in the kitchen.  I thought "hmmm, now thats never happened this fast before."  I texted Kim & Christina.  They both were already hurrying :)

Warning TMI may follow:

I started having the urge to have a BM, I was NOT about to do that in the birthing tub so I forced myself to go to the bathroom and try to allow my body to cleanse the intestinal track in a proper manner before exposing all in labor.

At this point, I really needed John to apply some strong hip pressure during each contraction, which were coming faster than 1 minute apart, really it never seemed like they let up.  He is a ROCK STAR!!  Ladies, you need a strong man in labor? he's your guy! :)  Well, actually he's MY guy so scratch that last sentence!  He stayed in the bathroom with me while I hummed LOUDER and higher pitched than I think I've heard my voice "sing".  I sat to relieve myself and gave 2 strong pushes.  No BM.  Just more contractions and big urges to keep pushing.  In my mind I told myself, "listen to your body, there is no one else here telling you what to do, if you have the baby it will be fine, if you just need the relief to push that's fine too"  I stood up and then the next contraction placed my hands on my thighs and pushed hard, I told John "I think it's the baby!!!!"  He knelt down and the next push there she came, he caught her, and I pushed the shoulders and her body out!!  WHAT?!!  Did we just have a baby in the bathroom, over the toilet?!  Who does that?!  He gave her to me, I wrapped her in that ugly torn up shirt while he grabbed a towel.  Then I told him "Call Christina!, wait first TAKE A PICTURE!" :)  He did both, he's amazing that way!!

The time of the call to Christina was 0348.  John helped me to the living room where I laid down, Payson on my chest, umbilical cord still attached and placenta still inside.  We waited and our nurse arrived, who is    GREAT too.  Then John's Mom, Kim and Christina all arrived.

Here we are, she's still attached to me :)

 It was SURREAL!  John caught our baby!  Kids stayed asleep.  Birthing tub never filled past 4 inches or so of water.  Outfit totally lacking it's stylish appeal.  Box of supplies with old towels still folded while good towels and bath mats dirtied, and the list of "how it was supposed to go goes on.   :)  But it is an amazing story!  The FASTEST of labors yet for me :)  I mean start to finish in less than 2 hrs?! Captured in great intimacy by just John & I!  I think its so cool he caught her!!!!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  Seriously, God is AWESOME and the gift of labor and birth is so precious that even the sting of the pain from sin cannot eclipse it's beauty!  God is awesome!!