My Big KINDERGARTENER!

John 17:15-19

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world even as I am not of it.

Sanctify them by your truth. As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself that they too may be truly sanctified.

Up until Aspen was three years old, there was no question in my mind that we would put our children in private school. Mark was more neutral on the subject, but it was something that I was very adamant about. That is, until one of my good friends sent me an email outlining why they chose public school. It was so well written and thought out that it really challenged me. I started to ask God what He wanted us to do. Simple in theory, but it was really hard for me to question a decision that I had made long before even having kids.

After much thought and prayer, I felt that God led me to the above scripture. Honestly, I was kind of disappointed! I made a note of the scripture and then let it rest. Who wants to have to change direction? It's humbling. Over time, as I came back to the scripture over and over, I felt more peace about it.

I wish I could say that I never question whether I heard God right when it comes to this, but so far, I'm happy with the decision to send him to public school. Aspen loves it (a huge answer to prayer), and I haven't seen any attitude or behavior changes since he's started school. Our first parent/teacher conferences are next week, and I'm really looking forward to getting his teacher's perspective on how he is doing. Aspen doesn't say a lot about what they do in his class, and I haven't been able to volunteer in his classroom yet so I feel like I know much about what they do.

Finding time to just be silly. Life can be so serious. Especially with Aspen. Sometimes it feels like we spend most of our time either refereeing arguments or punishing them. He can be so antagonistic (apple doesn't fall far from the tree...). It's highly frustrating and something we are still trying to find a solution to that works. Unfortunately, the satisfaction he gets out of making Journey scream seems to outweigh the punishments so far.

But.........I think we have happened on a solution.......if we can be consistent with it that is.....CHORES!

Something I ask Aspen many times a day is "are you choosing to cause stress or peace?" Of course the answer is generally stress. Well, now the consequence for causing stress is to add peace back to the house by doing chores. Because a cleaner house = a more peaceful house, right?

Sounds genius, huh? He's busy for 15 -20 minutes, unable to bug Journey and I'm getting a cleaner house!

It all sounds so great until you are here and have to implement the consequence. Let's just say there's a lot of drama. Crying, screaming, begging for another chance, refusing to do it, etc. So, that's why I say that I think we've found a solution if we can stay strong and consistent.

Here's kind of how it goes:

By the time we came home from church on Sunday Aspen had earned himself the privilege of vacuuming his room, Journey's room, our room and closet, plus the hallway. Quite a bit of work for a five year old.

Mark and I had to laugh as the drama unfolded when we sent him upstairs to vacuum. He spent the first five minutes crying as loudly as possible (it's too much work! it's going to take me forever! i can't do it!, etc.). Next, he decided he better get started, but of course could not do it without a little more drama. We heard him stop crying, turn the vacuum on and start vacuuming the first room. But minutes later the vacuum went off and he walked back into the hallway (where he knew we could hear him) and again began crying as loudly as possible. He worked that for a few minutes until he realized that he wasn't getting a response, and went back in to finish. This cycle repeated itself a few times before he got down to work and fairly quickly completed the rest of the rooms.

We've been working on being consistent with this and I think things may be getting a tiny bit better. I am enjoying a cleaner house though! I haven't vacuumed in quite awhile :)

Willow n' Me

Willow is almost 8 weeks old. The last eight weeks have not been the easiest, but things are getting easier as time goes on. She was diagnosed with reflux at 4 weeks and went on medication. Thankfully, she has never cried a lot, but she just is not able to stay asleep because of the acid coming up all the time. There have been many, many days where she has only slept an hour total all day...

Following that, I did some research and have eliminated dairy from my diet to help with the reflux. Wow, it's been hard! I've been missing cheese, chocolate, ice cream, my Coffee's On mochas, and just the normal things like pancakes and waffles. My only saving grace has been lactose free milk, which has enabled me to continue having my morning lattes. Unfortunately, doing more research tonight, I found out that I need to cut even that out because it is usually the milk protein that babies are allergic to, not the lactose. Boo!

The only thing that keeps me going is that I have seen a big difference in Willow since cutting out all the dairy. She is much more relaxed and sleeps easier (although it's still a day to day thing).

I know, because I had a few bites of dairy a couple days ago and had a nightmare day the next day!

She is also becoming more interactive, smiling and "talking" which we are all loving. So far, I think she is really going to be a daddy's girl. She loves to try to get Mark's attention, and smiles the most at him. Much different than Journey was as a baby. She was all about mommy :)

Despite all the reflux and sleeping issues, Willow is an incredibly sweet baby who loves to be snuggled close. I'm trying to enjoy all the time I have with her. It's going so fast already.

Just An Avalanche of Pictures

I'm so thankful she likes the swing. The only problem is trying to keep Journey out of her face.

Aspen and Journey playing in the trailer at Grammi and Papa's house. Their "fort".

"walking the dog" Journey's favorite toy at Grammi and Papa's

Journey "loving" Willow. Yes, it gets a little rough at times!

I love the newborn phase when they fold up on your chest and sleep. So snuggly.

Proud big brother

5 weeks old

My adorable niece and nephew ~ Peyton 2 and Lilly 4 months

At the height of Willow's not sleeping and my exhaustion, Charity offered to take Aspen and Journey overnight so that I could get a break. They had a blast with their cousins staying up late, playing video games, sleeping in the same room together. What great memories they are building.

All the girls ~ Journey 2 1/2, Willow 6 weeks and Ava 2 years old, and coming soon, Zoe!

Bath time! I can see a few rolls starting :)

I'm so thankful she takes a binky. Journey didn't and it was so hard to get her to fall asleep.

Life Right Now

I don't have any new pictures to post. This one was taken from Mark's i-phone, thus the quality. My camera broke about a week ago....waahhh! Of course it happens at the time where Willow is changing almost daily. So frustrating.

Anyways, Willow is now 4 weeks old. Honestly, I feel like I am treading water. Just trying to get used to all the changes to our lives over the past few weeks. Aspen has started Kindergarten (another post on that to come) which has me running him to and from school every morning. Hours and hours of my day are spent feeding Willow, and it seems like the rest of the time is spent trying to get her to go to sleep. So far it's very rare that I am been able to get Willow to nap without a ride in the car. Today, I actually thought up an errand to do just so that I could get her to sleep. Something I never thought I'd ever do! Yes, I was desperate for a quiet sleeping baby.

Aspen and Journey are slowly adjusting to our new, slower pace of life. They are used to being much more on the go, and seem to get bored and then on each other's nerves a lot more lately. Hmmm, now that I think of it, I guess they are used to getting more of my attention too...

So that's where life is at for us right now. Mark has been a huge help to me taking Aspen and Journey out on errands, to dinner or OMSI to give me a break, making dinner and even doing some grocery shopping. All this has lead me to lean on God's strength in a new way (which really is not a bad thing...).

I lift up my eyes unto the hills

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord

The maker of heaven and earth.

Three!

Yep, they are loving their new little sister.

Actually, words can not describe how much Journey loves Willow. She's the first thing she asks about each morning and after naps. Every time she sees Willow, she is so overwhelmed with love and emotion that she holds her breath until she shakes (yes, really!). It's hard to explain, but I'm hoping to get it on video. I've been having to keep a close eye on Journey around Willow because I've caught her trying to carry her!

Journey just discovered her jewlery stash and had to try them all on. Love my girly girl :)

I'm amazed that I was able to get good pics of all three!

My sweet Willow ~ 2 weeks old

Willow's First Week

It's amazing how slow the first three weeks of August seemed to go by, and how fast the last nine days have flown. I've been desperately trying to savor each moment with Willow, especially the first couple days when it was just her and I. I wish I could soak up her sweet newness and remember it all, but life with three is busy and no matter how hard you try to hold on to today, it just slips away!

2 days old

2 days old

4 days old

Cousins ~ Journey 2 1/2 years, Lilly 2 1/2 mo. & Willow 6 days old

7 days old ~ reminds me of a picture of Aspen I have at this age

8 days old

9 days old

I am so thankful for my mom and dad. They took Aspen and Journey to the beach with them after I had Willow so that I could have some time to recover and spend time with just her.

Mark went to the beach early Tuesday morning to do some fishing and spend some time with the kids, and I joined them on Wednesday evening (Willow was 4 days old). At that point, I felt recovered enough from the birth to go to the beach and was really missing Aspen and Journey. Even before I was able to get out of my car, I could hear Aspen and Journey running through the house screaming my name. They had missed me as much or more than I had missed them! They couldn't stop hugging me and loving on me, and I couldn't help but cry (and cry now as I remember it!)

It was a great way to ease into having three kids since I had the help of my mom and Diana. Both the kids have done great with Willow and I haven't seen any resentment or jealousy at all. Journey loves to hold her, kiss her and is very protective of "her baby" with other kids around.

We stayed at the beach until Saturday. Mark was very happy to get in three days of fishing that week since he had been banned from fishing until Willow's birth :)

Willow is a great baby. She is very mellow and even at 11 days old, sleeps pretty much all the time. Unless she is hungry, she doesn't cry. I didn't think I could get this lucky twice in a row! Night times have been a little rough because she doesn't always want to stay asleep, but I'm not complaining. The reason I choose to go through all the pain of a natural child birth is to up my odds of having a happy, peaceful baby (baby doesn't get the drugs in her system). I'm going to start working on getting her on more of a schedule (school starts next week, but that's a different post...) and hopefully that will make the nights easier.

Willow's our little doll baby, and the whole family is in love with her :)

Introducing....

WILLOW CADENCE

8/22/09

8 lbs. 1 oz.

21 inches long

She's absolutely perfect and so far, looks more like Aspen to me.

Wow, officially a family of five!

She's got his heart already...

I can already tell you that Aspen is going to be a great big brother to his two sisters. He is very proud of Willow. But in the hospital, he seemed more concerned with me and how I was doing. Isn't he sweet?

That is, of course, before we told him about the presents the baby brought him...


Journey is already loving to give her sister lots of kisses. Here she's wearing the sunglasses and bracelet the baby got her :)

A couple of proud grandmas!

We are so blessed to have such loving and involved families. I love that our kids are close to both sets of grandparents.



WARNING: This is Willow's birth story (and it's long). For those of you not interested or TMI, this is the time to stop reading :)

My due date was August 18th, Mark's birthday. At my 38 week doctor's appointment, the midwife that I saw estimated the babies weight at between 8.5 and 9lbs. Knowing that I had two weeks until my due date and my history of being overdue, I was pretty freaked out at how big this baby was going to be.

I have delivered a 9 lb. baby and have not forgotten the pain! I had also worked hard this pregnancy to keep in shape and not gain so much weight, hoping that that would lead to a smaller baby.

At the 39 week appointment they suggested acupuncture to try to get labor going. By my 40 week appointment (actually 40 weeks + 2 days) I had gone to acupuncture 3 times, tried Castor oil (which they had suggested doing), and was pretty discouraged. Mark actually came with me to the appointment to try to talk them into inducing me.

After checking to see how dilated I was, the midwife said she was not comfortable breaking my water to try to induce labor because the babies head was still high enough that the cord could come in front of the head and cause a medical emergency. She did say that if I was to go into light labor, to come in and they would break my water to keep things moving along.

The next day one of our good friends who was due two weeks past me went into labor, and I couldn't help but cry (yes, I'm happy for her, but everyone I know due around or after me had already delivered their babies, and being overdue is emotionally draining!) That's when Mark came up with our 'induction plan'. He thought that if I tried taking Castor oil one more time to get some contractions started, we could go into the hospital and convince them that it was labor enough for them to break my water.

I really didn't want to do Castor oil again, but decided to try one last time. I choked down the oil, took a 30 minute walk, and prayed that this would work. The contractions seemed to start coming more often around 3:30pm so I began to time them. They were not painful, but more than just braxton hicks. I called my mom around 5pm while I was making dinner to let her know our plan just in case it worked so that she would be ready to pick the kids up. At that time the contractions were about every 3-5 minutes. She felt like this was going to work and be the real thing and came right over.

I was still very doubtful since the contractions still were not ones I would call painful, but I could feel them enough to know that they would register on the monitors. On our way to the hospital, we called to let them know we were coming in and found out that all the maternity beds were full! They diverted us to another local hospital which wasn't a big deal except that I had planned a water birth and would not be able to do that at the new hospital.

We got to the hospital around 7pm on Friday, 8/21. When the midwife checked me out, I hadn't changed from the day prior. Still 3 cm dilated and the babies head was still high. She also noted that I didn't seem to be in much pain! I didn't want them to send me home and quickly started to show some discomfort with the contractions :)

She recommended that I start walking and would come back at 9:30pm to see if there was any change. Each time she would pop in to check on me, I felt like I had to act like the contractions were getting more painful. Really, I was praying like mad that the babies head would come down enough for them to be able to break my water.

At 9:30pm, she came to check me. I was 4 cm. and the babies head had moved down enough to break my water. After she did that, I felt an immediate difference in the strength of the contractions. We were both so relieved that this was it, we wouldn't be sent home, and I didn't have to 'act' anymore! Haha :) Our plan had worked.

I began walking around the room and using the birthing ball to deal with the pain. I was planning on laboring in the jacuzzi tub, but didn't want to get in too soon and stall labor. Around 10:30 or 11pm, I asked the nurse to fill the tub up so that I wouldn't miss the chance to use it.

Around 11:30-11:45pm, before getting in, she wanted to check to see how I was progressing. I was 5-6 cm. dilated and the baby was still pretty high. I felt a little discouraged when she said that because judging by the strength and pain level of the contractions, I had guessed I was more like 7-8 cm. dilated.

A few contractions later, I faintly heard Mark say that judging the way my labor seemed to be going he wasn't sure if I would be able to use the tub, to which she agreed. She felt like I may go from 6-10 cm very quickly. I was disappointed, but didn't have much time to dwell on the fact as the intensity of the contractions quickly escalated.

Between contractions I could hear the nurse quickly getting the supplies ready for the birth. All of a sudden, the uncontrollable urge to push came and she was in my face, telling me to breathe and not push. She pressed and emergency button and chaos ensued with huge rush of nurses and midwifes. Two pushes later at 12:01am 8/22, Willow was born crying. Two and a half hours of real labor left me exhausted and in shock that it was over already.

After all the predictions and stress over having large baby, we were amazed that Willow was only 8 lbs. 1 oz. - our smallest baby! We are so thankful she is here and healthy.