Just Roll With the Punches

Short conversation that took place between Nathan and me yesterday.....

Nathan: ".........oh, and we're moving to Nebraska."

Me: "Okay. When?"

Nathan: "When this job is done, probably in 2 or 3 weeks."

Me: "Okay."


....it takes quite a bit to phase me these days...... :)

First Days Back

Since Nathan decided to stay at my parents house until Thursday, we decided that it would be best for the rest of us to leave at that same time so we could caravan together. It worked out wonderfully! I had the kids in the van while we followed Nathan in his car. We stopped in Granite Falls (almost exactly half way) at Hardees so the kids could get their wiggles out (they have a little enclosed play area) and so Ariella could eat. She didn't make a peep in the van the whole way! What a good girl!

The first few days back home have been wonderful!! Right when we first came into our apartment, Tiernan goes "wow! it's all picked up in here!" :) Nathan did a good job of keeping the apartment clean while we were gone. I told Tiernan it should look like that all the time! Although after 5 minutes of being home, we had all our stuff all over the place again....sigh...

Sleep has been going well for everyone! The boys are sleeping in until about 7am or so, which is a lot later than they did at my parents house! And even Tiernan has taken a nap a couple times, giving me time to take a nap as well! Ariella is a great sleeper too. The first few nights back here, she slept from about 9:30pm-ish until about 8am-ish, waking up only once to eat!! I tried to get her up more than that (because I needed to feed her!) but she only wanted to sleep! Last night she was up a few times but she just gets her fill and right back to sleep she goes!

We actually ventured out to church yesterday morning, and even with getting all 4 of the kids ready, showering ourselves, feeding the baby, etc, we were on time!! They welcomed us back with hugs and even announced Ariella's birth during the service!

Al came over last night to visit and to meet Ariella. He will be leaving on Wednesday morning to head back to France. (Well, first he's making a stop in Florida, but then he will be leaving the states for good). We have enjoyed getting to know him and our kids (especially Brayan!!) will miss him coming by. Al couldn't believe how small Ariella was and he said that she makes him want to have a baby :) We told Al that he should find a wife soon and settle down....maybe when he gets back to France :) He also asked if we knew of anyway he could rent a baby...hehe. I told him it's called 'babysitting' and then they pay you to watch their baby! He thought that sounded good.

Here are some pictures from the last few days.....

Tiernan snugglin' with Al

Brayan was jealous when Al was holding Ariella...he wanted a turn!

I'm not sure what kind of face this is, but it's sure cute!!

Her first 'sun bath' :)

So sweet.....

All dressed up for church...she was adorable!

So sleepy

The boys keep busy during our first day back home without Dad. Tiernan doing a floor puzzle and the other two playing with animals. (And yes, that is a work-out bench for our sitting arrangements at the table....ya gotta do what ya gotta do!)

Check out that double chin!

Just perfect

The shirt says it all...."Pretty Girl"

What Nathan took to work with him to give to the guys....Twix bars with pink ribbon wrapped around them :)

After singing "Happy Birthday" to Ariella before we left G & G's.

Our first family picture

So girlie

Big yawn....

Snuggled in the sling

Home Sweet Home

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee'rrrrreeee Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccckkk!!!! (We're Back!! :)

We made it back to Luverne today after being gone for 2-1/2 weeks!! It's getting late so I'm not typing much, but just wanted to share some more pictures of her birth!! I'll have more pics and all that good stuff soon :) Enjoy!!

Focusing during a contraction

"Thank you Jesus that my baby is healthy and breathing!!! And, wow, am I glad to be done!" :)


"She's perfect!"

(Notice the cell phone on the right?....that's Nathan hearing what's going on in the room :)

She's looking at Mommy right away!

Sweet Babe's hands on Mommy


Joy weighing her.....6 pounds, 7 ounces....see her little feet sticking out the side? :)

More of Our Sweet Babe

Ok, so we officially love our little daughter!! She's so sweet and so tiny!! She's a fabulous eater and did very well last night, just ate and slept! Here are some more pics :)

Check out that hair!

Snuggled in the bed we made out of a drawer...she's only been in here a couple minutes though, Momma's arms are much more comfy :)

Caedmon loves her! He is always wanting to kiss her!

Being held by cousin William

Auntie Sara and cousin Eliana

And She Shall Be Called....

Ariella Dawn

:)

(pronounced Air-ee-ella)

BABY'S HERE!!!!!

It's a..........................GIRL!!!!!

We welcomed our precious little girl into our family tonight at 5:48pm!! She was 6lbs 7 oz and 19 inches!! What a little peanut! She still doesn't have a name yet, so stay tuned for that!!

I felt a little different this morning, I knew the baby was a lot lower but I carry my baby's really low at the end so that doesn't always mean anything. So my dad, Tiernan and I went into town to go to see a house on the tour of homes. While we were there, I thought "this might be the day"....the contractions were getting a little less comfortable. So once we got home, I started timing the contractions just to see. I started at 2pm and they were about 5 minutes apart. I texted my midwife to let her know what was going on.

She came over about 4:10 to check me and see where things were at. By the time she got to my parents, I was 7 cm dilated and contractions were strong. I got into the pool about 5ish and I was dilated to 9. After my water broke, I gave it one big push and she was out at 5:48!!

Nathan was still in the car on his way up so he heard her being born on the phone :) He was unable to be here for her birth, but we video taped it so he was still able to watch it!!

Here are some pictures of her and some of me in the pool. I will post more pics as I take them!! I'm sure there will be lots!! Enjoy!!

Eyes open!

Few mins after she was born

Again, few mins after the birth

Concentrating in the pool

At a 9!....Whoo hoo!!....almost done!!

Wanna Bet?

So, I shoulda made some money bets with people who were absolutely positive that this baby was coming this week! (I'd be a wealthy lady!!) But actually, I thought it was coming this week too, so I probably wouldn't have won either!!

The hardest part about this whole situation is being away from Nathan. It was from Monday to last Saturday night that we went last week without seeing him, then we got almost 24 hours together and then we are going almost another week again. The boys are really starting to miss Daddy and getting real sick of just Mommy! I think Nathan's getting a little bored at home too without all the usual comotion goin' on!

The nicest thing about being here though is the help that I get from my Dad during the day!! He gets up with the boys as soon as they decide it's time to wake up (which this morning was 5:45am for ALL of them!!!) I was up too though since I couldn't sleep with Brayan crying in the room next to me. But on a typical day (when at least Brayan sleeps past 6!) Dad is up with the older boys, getting them bananas and turning on cartoons for them so I can get a few more minutes of sleep! Also, another thing that has been completely out-of-this-world wonderful is that my dad does most of the dishes!! This is something I am so not used to! I make breakfast and by the time I'm done feeding myself and getting everything for the boys, I turn around and voila!...the dishes are already done!! Or I'll make supper and by the time I get the kids washed up and get them scooted out of the kitchen area, I'll look and voila!...the kitchen is clean! I'm used to at least a good 15-20 minutes in the kitchen after supper cleaning up so to have that help is such a treat for me!! I better not get too used to it..hehe..although I will enjoy it while I can! :)

Nothin' new with baby...I think it's very comfy right where it is so it's just going to take it's time in making it's arrival!! Again, I will post anything new or any changes so just stay tuned!!

Nothin' Yet

Just lettin' ya know that there's no baby yet! I've been doing everything I can think of to get things going but this baby seems pretty comfy right where it is!! Biggie and I went for about a mile and a half walk earlier and since Sunday I've been walking 1.5-3 miles per day. I was also finding some accupressure points that are supposed to help bring on labor, so we'll see if that helps!!

Other than getting a little anxious for the baby to come, everything has been going well at my parents. All the boys are outside right now with Grandpa. They absolutely love playing outside, especially in all the water puddles! Yesterday Caedmon was running and then sliding into the water like it was a slip 'n slide, even though he was in his snowpants and boots!! They usually spend a couple hours outside per day, which is so nice for them!!

Well, that's about all for now! Pray that this baby comes soon! (I'd like to keep some of my sanity...) Stay tuned!

How Things Are Going

My midwife Joy came over to my parents house today for my appt to make sure she remembered how to get there, where all my supplies were, etc. At the appt, she said that I still don't "look" term (even though I am!!) and that most of her patients are as big as I am at 20 weeks :) Last week I measured at 32 when I was 37 weeks, remember that? Well, today, at 38 weeks, I measured at 30 :) Most woman get bigger towards the end of pregnancy, well...I get smaller ...hehe :) Of course the reason why my belly decreased in size was due to the fact that my baby dropped and is now nice and snuggled in my pelvis just waiting to come out!! Joy also said that the baby's head was between a +1 and a +2 station (+3 is out :) and that I'm a "very stretchable" 4-1/2 centimeters dilated!! whoo hoo!! That means that I am almost 5 cms and already half way done dilating before going into labor!! I went for a walk today and will go on another one before the nights over (I hope!) in order to encourage things along. I'm guessing this baby will come more sooner than later, but I guess we will just have to wait and see!!

Hopefully my last weekly belly picture! What'd ya think??

38 weeks!!!

Nathan got off work an hour early on Saturday so he decided to make the drive up and see us! He stayed for most of the day yesterday and then traveled back to Luverne last night. While he was here we enjoyed him immensely and also we were able to go to the homeshow at the civic center! It was a great time.

Tiernan with Nathan's parents, eating his (late) birthday cake! Doesn't he look so grown up???

Snugglin' with Grandpa Ron on the couch in the morning

Tiernan sledding with his friend at their house.

Grandma Barb singing the "color song" and doing actions with the kids before bed.

Sorry to Disappoint!

Soooooooooooo frustrating!! I have a few minutes now during nap so I got all ready to update my blog and I forgot my camera at the in-laws!!! ahhh!! So, I'm just going to have to post without pictures for now and then post pics later!!

We've been hanging out at my parents for most of the week but we did take Thursday afternoon and evening to spend time at my good friends house, where my kids had a blast! Tiernan played outside for hours with the other kids and loved it! Then this morning we went to Nathan's parents house for Tiernan's 'birthday meal'. Mary made Tiernan waffles and an angel food cake with strawberries and whip cream. It was very yummy! After we ate, we make out way back to my parents so the kids could nap.

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Here are a couple comments from people I have gotten lately. While wearing a regular sweatshirt, my sister in law commented "You don't even look pregnant!" Another comment was by my midwife as I was coming up the stairs to her office. She was around the corner and she said "I can't wait to see you!" And once she saw me she said "Oh, you don't even look any different!" Sorry to disappoint! :) So one thing that I was going to mention on my last post but forgot was about how my belly measured at my midwifes appt. Measuring the fundal height of my belly isn't very accurate at the end of pregnancy because if the baby has dropped, etc then you'll be smaller but at 37-1/2 weeks, I measured at 32 weeks!! So for all of you who've said "you look so little" etc etc, it's because I am. But am I complaining??? No way!

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I hope to get my camera back soon so I can post my last next belly picture! Make sure you get your vote in on this baby, your time is running out and hopefully I'll be able to congratulate some of you on guessing the correct sex very very soon!! :)

Baby update

I missed my Wordless Wednesday! :) I knew there was something else I was going to do yesterday..... Well, here is what I was going to post.....

Clever Clyde, very clever..... :)

And for the baby update!....I saw my midwife yesterday and she said everything looks good! The baby is a nice size, although she did say that it wouldn't hurt it to wait a week or so
to be born so it can gain some chub on it's little body, but everythings a go! I'm also dialated to 3cm....which doesn't really mean anything besides that my body is moving in the right direction!! (and that's 3cm that I don't have to work for when I actually go into labor! :) I was dialated to 4cm for a week and a half before Tiernan was born, so I'm not expecting too much too soon just yet! Stay posted as time gets closer!!

We're Ready Baby!

After a long enough drive, we've made it to St Cloud! The kids and I left this morning around 9:15am after breakfast and got to St Cloud about 3-1/2 hours later. So officially, I am ready for baby!! We got settled in today at my parents house and I just hope it isn't weeks and weeks that we are waiting! Nathan is continuing to work and will visit on the weekends when possible. It will be hard to be away from him since we are not used to being apart, but again, hopefully it won't be too long!!

Finally eating lunch at 1:30pm when we came to St Cloud this afternoon. I didn't know how this would go since I was by myself with the kids, but they were so good! After being in the car for so long, I thought they'd be all over the place, but they weren't! Then I couldn't find a high chair for Brayan, so again I thought 'oh great, he'll be all over' but he wasn't! This is a picture I snapped while we were eating. Each kid just sat so nice, ate their food and we left the store just as nice! The older boys holding hands walking to the van while I carried Brayan....just wonderful :)

37 weeks!! I was wearing this last night and Nathan said to me "You don't even look pregnant, you just look like a fat lady" HA! I said "ok, which is better....looking pregnant or looking fat??"....I think I'd rather look pregnant :) (And yes, I got a hair cut...it's way shorter than I wanted it, but not much you can do after the scissors closes!)

My boys before church


Tiernan had a fever the other day that lasted just one day...this is what he did to stay busy while he wasn't feeling like doing much. He played games on the computer while laying in our bed.

"What, Mom?...all I had was a little cottage cheese..."