Tiny Talk Tuesday

Over this past week, the girls have said some extremely cute things. However, like usual I didn't write them down, therefore missing so many of the documentary worthy quotes after Andrew was born. Here are a few I did remember:

While sitting at the dinner table:
Grandma: I think Andrew is just so cute!
Kyra: Grandma, you want to know what I think? I think he looks expensive.
(I think she is just trying out her larger vocabulary, but she wasn't far off the mark!)

While holding Andrew:
Kyra: I think he loves me very much.
(Kyra has been quite smitten with this new little guy, and if we let her, would hold him for hours at a time.)

While holding the baby:
Katie: Mommy, I want you to feed him with that thingy again.
(Oh yeah, the joys of having two girls invading your space while nursing. Not much chance for privacy this time around. These girls are quite curious.)

While sitting on the couch:
Kyra: Mom?
Mom: Yes?
Kyra: If you drink lots of milk, then does it go down your throat, and into your tummy and then out of your bo*ob?
(yeah, something like that. Wow, she is creative.)

It is fun to see Kyra ask so many questions. She asked things from how the IV gave me hydration to questions about the umbilical cord. She is such an inquisitive little girl.

If you'd like to read more tiny talk, visit Mary's!

Totally In Love

Almost a week has gone by since I had my little guy. And I tell you, I couldn't be more in love. I find myself gazing at his face, watching his tiny little twitches, scrunched up face, and whimpers. Everything is precious.

When I had Kyra, I found myself doing much of the same (the gazing), however I also quickly became overwhelmed by the responsibility of being a new mother. I was overcome by the lack of sleep. And at times even longed for the way life was before baby. When I had Katie, I had some idea of the responsibility and fatigue it took to be a parent. I found myself often thinking I wasn't the best at being a mom of babies. Don't get me wrong, I love both the girls (and have from the very beginning). But that really young baby stage just isn't my cup of tea. I tend to like it when they are a little bit older. I like it when they sleep through the night, laugh continuously to the silliest little thing, are beginning to show more personality, and give you a better indicator of why in tarnation they are crying. I'm just too nervous.

So, before I had Andrew, I found myself giving myself little pep talks. Now, Sarah, you only have to get through the next few months and then life will get better. Now , Sarah, you can handle sleepless nights for a short while, it really isn't that long in the whole scheme of life! Now, Sarah, just keep on your hubby to give you lots of help and you'll make it through this stage. But to tell you the truth, I haven't really needed those pep talks thus far. I know it's probably a little premature (seeing as though I have only had a few days at home with him, and I've also had my SUPER mother here to help me with the girls) to be saying things have been going well, but they have. And I'm finding that I really love this baby stage. In fact I have found myself wishing at times that I could freeze time and hold on to this little baby body for longer than I know I have time with him before he starts to grow. He is just really that precious. He has the cutest little smile already, long little toes and fingers, and the best little shaped head. I am simply joyful that God has blessed me with such a beautiful little boy.

So, I guess for now I'll just try and capture some of these moments in pictures and hold on to the snuggling time we have for now, because I know it won't be long and these time will be over in a flash. Even my mom said, "you could keep on having children to try and recapture this stage of life, but they are always going to grow up."

A Whole New World


Well, we made it home! After 3 1/2 days in the hospital, Andrew and I are finally home. The girls are so excited to spend more time with their little brother (so much that Kyra already sat down and read him a book...awe...while he was sleeping). Of course it's been 2 1/2 hours since we've been home and he is still sound asleep in his car seat, but he has plenty of time to get used to his new diggs.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better baby. He has been sticking to an every 3 hour eating schedule and has been eating fairly quickly (opposed to the girls who took 45 minutes to eat, each time). He has only been crying if he's hungry or has a dirty diaper too (of course he is a boy, which is probably why he's not giving me mixed messages. What you see is what you get!) Of course all this could change, but I'll take what I can get for now. The surgery also went fairly well. It took a little longer than it was supposed to, but I am healing quickly and feeling good.


I'll have lots more to report as the days go on, but I'm tired and need to rest a bit before the little bugger gets up. So for now, I'll just leave you with a few more pictures. And again, thank you to everyone for the well wishes and prayers. Your thoughts and comments have made us feel very loved and glad to have friends and family like you'all.

Announcing baby Andrew James


Well for all of you waiting , we have a baby Boy!
Andrew James was born on June 23 @ 8:02 AM weighing in at 8 pounds 1 oz and 20 inches long. ( Our smallest peanut yet). Mom and baby are doing well and are planning on coming home Friday morning. Mom will give you all the whole scoop when she comes back. For now I thought that I would share a picture with you all. God sure is great!

PS: Thank you all for the prayers

Nearing the End

With just a little over a week to go till the big "Baby" day, my patience has been wearing thin. My poor girls have had to deal with a drill sargent of a mom. For goodness sakes, couldn't they stop acting like children for a change and not get out every toy in the house (oh, that's right, they are children)? Okay, I've been a little irrational in my expectations. The fact that I've been trying to widdle away at a "to do" list before the baby comes, and know that this baby could care less if I have anything done with the house is beside the point. I'm still "trying" to relax and thinking of ways to have fun with my two precious girls this last week, before our family gets larger. After all they shouldn't have to remember their last days simply following rules and cleaning up until the baby comes.

Nevertheless, when my in-laws called on Friday to take the girls strawberry picking, I quickly took them up on their offer. I was thankful for the opportunity to get some weeding done, along with the thought of some rest time. And the girls would have so much more fun with their grandparents, not to mention a reprieve from their stressed out mama. The day ended up being simply wonderful. Not only did I get the day to myself, but my hubby took me out for a nice dinner, and my in-laws made a ton of jam for me (something I would have loved to do, but these swollen feet can't stand in front of the sink that long to wash and stem). It was a very nice gift.

Now, with just 8 days before the delivery date, I am able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Although I am looking like Hom*er Simp*son these days with my gut hanging out, since my shirts are too short and my pants won't stay up, I know it won't be long. And I plan on taking some fun little outings with my girls this week to make the most out of the time we have before junior consumes most of it. But, I also look forward to carrying a little round bundle in only a week's time!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

I managed to remember a few of the cute things my kids said this past week. Here are a few of their funnies...

While playing dolls together-
Katie: (evidently offended by something her older sibling did, she runs off to me) Mommy, Kyra isn't playing very nice to me. She caught my feelings.

While getting ready in the morning-
Mom: Now Kyra, I want you to make your bed this morning like I asked you to do yesterday.
Kyra: I was thinking we could make my bed like a pattern.
Mom: What do you mean?
Kyra: One day you can make my bed, then I can make my bed, you make it, I make it. Isn't that a good idea?
Mom: That's very creative. But when Grandma comes in a couple weeks, she's not going to make your bed so you need to make a habit of making your bed every day.
Kyra: But Mom, that's two weeks away.
(This girl is getting too smart for her own good. I can't believe she's using what she learned in school against me already!)

While sitting on the couch-
Kyra: Mom, how did that baby get inside your tummy?
Mom: (Shoot! I thought I managed to get through this whole pregnancy without that question. So, I managed to answer in the best and simplistic way that I could). Well, when a mommy and daddy love each other very much and decide they want to start having children, they ask God to bless them with a child. And if the time is right, God plants a seed in Mommy's tummy and it begins to grow (not too far off right?).
Kyra: What color is the seed?
(Thankfully the questions ended there, until two days later when she asked how dogs had babies. Do they ask God for a seed? Oh heavens, I need help.)

If you want to read more tiny talk, just visit Mary's.

Catching Up

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted last. And I'm afraid it's just going to become fewer and farther between. I so wanted to keep up with blogging, taking care to write all the cute things my kids say and record their precious sayings. I wanted to record how this pregnancy went so I could tell the kids stories later in their life (considering I forgot so much about the first two). But alas it didn't happen, because life happened. And that's okay. I'd like to recap some of the things that have been going on though...

The Girls
A couple months ago, the girls began swimming lessons. I know we aren't going to go swimming much this summer, but we do have a boat and I think it is important for them to learn swimming safety. Plus, they have shown a lot of fear in the past and I was hoping to have them get over that (to the point they don't even want to take a shower!!) Both girls went through some tears over the last 5 weeks, but I have definitely seen improvement. I especially couldn't be prouder of Kyra. She went from not being able to let go of my arms to jumping in the pool all by herself and turning around and swimming to the edge of the pool. She dove off the diving board, and even went under water to reach for rings at the bottom of the pool (although she wasn't thrilled about that exercise). Katie needs a little of work still, and fought going to lessons almost every time, but at least she'll jump of the edge to someone in the pool and is starting to kick and move her arms. It was a joy to watch them both.

The Hubs
My hubby has been extremely busy, much to my dismay, but at least as this baby approaches quickly his time away from home seems to be lessening. He has become head foreman of his big job site, which requires more of his time, and hence comes home a little later sometimes (which don't get me wrong I am grateful for, because he has a job, and a job in this economy is definitely a plus). He also, along with his brothers, just put in over 50 acres of field corn among 4 property parcels. His father become ill with a burst appendix over a month ago, and has been unable to help, so the boys had to put in some overtime. Of course planting corn and watching it grow is one of my hubby's ultimate joys. He gets a high off corn.

Me
I have slowly been trying to give up control in trying to have everything ready for baby #3. It would have been nice to have this boy's room all decorated nicely, had my computer ready to print out baby announcements, and have Katie all potty trained (so I won't have two in diapers), but I'm afraid it's not going to happen.

It was my New Year's resolution to have Katie potty trained by the time the baby was born. And considering the fact that she is already 3, it seemed like an obtainable goal. However, she is a strong willed child, and along with having so many constipation issues, I think it's going to take awhile yet. To her credit, she does go #1 on the potty a great deal of the time, we just have to work on the other half. I know it will come, I just need to work on patience.

Our computer has died on us too. And while this doesn't seem like a huge problem, I lost the program I loved best to download pictures, and haven't been able to find an equally good program (don't remember what I had before). I have also spent a good deal of what seems like wasted time trying to download software, when I could have been washing baby clothes or watering flowers. So, we finally drug our feet to the store to buy a new desktop after installing a new hard drive in the old computer and not receiving the results we expected. Hopefully this computer will last awhile, and I can download everything I need before baby comes.

Finally I was broadsided in a parking lot by an older couple. Fortunately I was okay, but we have a small dent in the car that bugs me. And due to Michigan's no fault law, I would have to pay for the damage even though I didn't create it (not to mention if claimed, my insurance rates would go up). We thought about small claims court, but at this point in the pregnancy, I think I'm just going to let it go.

To be honest though, this has been the best pregnancy I have had. Even though my ducks aren't all in a row, I have felt good almost the entire pregnancy and still don't even sleep with any side pillows. I have had a few rough spots, but all in all I feel great. Even this cooler weather is a blessing, because my feet and legs are not swelling up as much as the past pregnancy's. This baby is a mover and a shaker though. I have felt more kicks and punches then with either girls combined. He must be ready to take on the world!

So, after this long winded blog entry (sorry), I will leave you with this prego picture some of you have been requesting. I don't normally like photographing myself, but also regret not taking more pregnant pictures of me with my girls either. So with 19 days before baby comes, here I am smiling and ready (hopefully) to relinquish control to God and his foreseeable future for our life as a family of five!!