Good-bye summer!

Well... it's been a while and I was asked when I was going to post again, so here I am. We have been so busy lately it's nuts! After George and Rebecca left I had a week before Chantelle and Austin came for convention. They were here for 3 days before leaving for 5 then Austin was here for another 3 days and Chantelle stayed for another 2 weeks. We had such a good time, we hated to see it end, but yet, it was nice to be just our family again and get into the swing of things.

We have started school again, and it's going OK. Some days are better than others, but the biggest thing is we're getting Caleb's allergy meds switched to something more natural and the adjustment has been a little rough. He learns quick though and when he can focus on his work, is a joy to teach. He seems to do better after the littler kids have gone to bed and it's just me and him working together, so that's what we try to do, as much as I'd love for him to be able to do it during the day, we do what we gotta do. Caleb has started catechism and is enjoying learning it, and he learns the stories very well as his reading lessons tend to correspond with what he's doing in catechism and I try to read the corresponding story in the Bible story book for devotions at breakfast.

Daniel has also been doing school and is LOVING it! He does really well and is learning to be a little more careful when he does his work instead of rushing through and having his pages a mess when he's done. I usually have to tell him it's time to stop, or he'd keep going and going... kinda like the Energizer bunny. lol He is our logical thinker, and is constantly coming up with logical answers for problems of all kinds. Some work out, some don't but we usually get a good laugh from what comes out of his mouth. :)

Lucas isn't quite as interested in school work, which is fine. He Loves to ride his bike all the time, or just play by himself. He does really well on his own in the sandbox and you will hear him talking to himself quite often. He is improving in his speech to the point that most people can understand him better, unless he's really tired or hungry as he tends to get a little lazier then, but we are so thankful to have made it through since he had his ear tubes put in without any ear infections! YAY!

Kimberly is growing up SO fast! She loves to draw in her coloring book while the boys are working on their school work and is constantly talking. She has shown a couple times that she's starting to get interested in potty training, so we'll be getting that worked on soon. She even peed in the potty a couple weeks ago! Hasn't done it since, but hey, it's a start! She loves to love on Matthew, and likes to wake him up when he's napping, she just can't wait to play with him!

Matthew is now 7 months and just over 20 pounds! He has not started solids yet, but he's thriving on mama's milk and is developing ahead of the curve. He loves to hear himself talk,  and distinguishes between Mommy and Daddy, even calling us by our names... So cute! He has learned to sit by himself and will play that way, or he'll army crawl across the floor picking up every tiny piece of anything to see what it tastes like. He seems to really like leaves from the deck... lol He is not sleeping through the night but we have been trying different things to get him to wake up a little less. I try not to complain about it too much as this baby stage is gone so fast and I do enjoy nursing him when everyone else is asleep and it's just me and him.

I have been busy keeping up with laundry, housework and schooling. I started cloth diapering this summer and LOVE IT!!! I'm so glad I started and really have not looked back at all. My kids enjoy diaper changes now and I love the smell, feel and looks of the cloth. There's nothing quite like a batch of fluff right off the line... Yes, some might call me weird, crazy or crunchy, but I don't care, I have friends and family who love me anyway! :)

Peter has been crazy busy still! We are SO thankful for God providing him with so much work that he never has to ask himself what he's going to do that day. This summer has seemed so long because he's been working "summer hours" since April and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Usually by this time of year some things are winding down a little, but nope, not this year. Most nights I'm happy if he's able to be in the house after supper before 10. He makes a conscious effort to be in for supper and about an hour or so after to help with the kids getting ready for bed, just so he can actually spend some time with them. He also tries to take one or 2 boys along with him when he can, and they think it's great! I keep telling them that next time it's my turn to go, but they don't let me... ;)

Anyway, this post should satisfy any curiosity about what we've been up to and whether we're even still here! LOL I'll try post more often, but can't guarantee that it'll be anything too regular.

Company has come.... and gone...

Last week we were blessed to be able to spend time with my sister Rebecca, her hubby George and 7 of their 9 children. They arrived here Friday, July 30th around noon and left around 8 AM on Friday August 6th. We had a wonderful visit and Lord willing, hope that maybe we can do it again sometime!

Friday night Peter took George, Logan, Colson, Brooklyn, and Daniel to a tractor pull. They had a lot of fun there, and they even got in for free, thanks to a service call Peter got! :) Rebecca and I and the rest of the kids stayed home and watched Cars and visited. Saturday we mostly just hung around home chatting and enjoying each other's company The kids caught a few frogs and were pleased about that... Sunday was church of course. George and Rebecca went to Southwest PRC so she could hear Rev denHartog preach again, and then Grandville in the evening. I stayed home in the evening due to a couple crabby, over-slept kids. Monday we headed downtown to the Grand Rapids Children's museum and had a blast! I'm really considering getting a membership there so we can go there whenever without it getting too pricey. There was a lot for the kids to do and they all had fun, including Logan who's 14. Monday night we had a game of Kick-the-can and we even convinced Peter to play! He thought it was more of hide and seek at first, but he got the hang of it. LOL  Tuesday we had a park day for anyone that wanted to visit with George and Rebecca, and that was ok, but Matthew was certainly not a happy camper. I think it was just too hot for him. Wednesday I had a home day after taking Kimberly to the dr for her bum rash (turns out it's impetego SP?), while George and Rebecca did a little visiting. Thursday we headed to the zoo for Kids day ($1 admission) and it was CRAZY busy so we went through quickly and then headed home. It was also Thavin's second birthday so we had ice cream cake after supper and sang to him. (He's so cute!) and then Friday morning it was time for good-byes again. Friday was a rough day for me. I was dealing with a little depression before they left already and having to say good-bye was really tough. It's hard not knowing when I'll see them again, and knowing that there's a good possibility that Kaliyan may be walking and talking before I see her again. So sad.

Anyway, after it's all said and done, we couldn't have asked for it to go any better than it did with 16 people in our little house for a week with only one bathroom and we hope to be able to do it again! They're headed home from Ontario this week, and we pray that they experience a good trip back and a joyful reunion with Jordan, and Austin when he returns from Convention.

Thursday night Chantelle and Austin arrive for Convention next week, so I'm excited about that. Austin leaves again on the 24th and Chantelle on Sept 7th. Should be a good time! :)

Latest stats

I had 4 kids go for check-ups this week. Here's what we found out.

Kimberly is 29 inches and about 31 pounds? I can't remember off the top of my head anymore... She's in the 50th percentile for height and 70th percentile for weight. She's a very healthy little girl! She has no concerns, and as my first vaccine free child, we have not had any allergy issues thus far. :)

Lucas is now 45 pounds and 40-something inches, putting him in the 95th percentile for both height and weight. He's a very proportionate little boy. He has some allergies that have been keeping him coughing at night and any time he's inside where there's a fan on or if the A/C is running. He coughed the whole time through church Sunday night, but because I was by myself with the 3 oldest, I stupidly just kept him in church. I should have just taken him in the back with the other boys too. It was not a good night, and I'm sure everyone was getting annoyed.

Daniel is now 51 pounds and 49 inches. he's also in the 95th percentile for both height and weight. Yes, we just have really big boys! The only concern we had for him was his right leg. Once every so often it'll get really painful, to the point of him screaming in pain when he tries to walk on it and needing ice and motrin. We got some x-rays done, but didn't find anything significant. Next time he has an "episode" we have to call in and get a referral to an ortho doctor. Lovely.

Matthew is now 16 pounds 11 ounces and 26 inches. He's in the 75th percentile for both. He is also very healthy. He's also too long for his infant carseat so now he's in a convertable one, meaning our van is VERY cramped. We have the 3 big boys in the back and Kimberly and Matthew up front.

That's about all we found out this week. I'll try post more of an update next week.

I guess it's about time for another post...
Since last posting we now have a 2 year old and a 4 month old! I am amazed at how fast the time flies, and that it seems to go faster with each baby. The boys have spent countless hours outside, and are a nice golden brown color. Kimberly also has her daddy's skin and refuses to burn (thankfully!). Matthew is now consistently rolling over front to back, but has yet to figure out how to un-do the predicaments he causes. He will roll over in bed and then cry for rescue in the "stranded beetle" way. He's definitely a mama's boy and does not like to be held by other people, even when he can still see me. I don't mind sometimes, but sometimes it would be nice to have Peter hold him a few minutes for me without having to listen to crying. We are leaving him with a babysitter next weekend, so we'll have to see how that goes. Hopefully he'll be in a good mood and do ok.

Kimberly, the new 2 year old is precious as ever, but is developing quite the opinions. She is not afraid to tell off her brothers, and is so gentle with her baby brother, the dog and her "babies". We gave her a baby stroller for her birthday and she loves putting her baby in it and going for walks, stopping once in a while to check on her baby. She has also been asking me to wrap her baby in her silky blankie, the one with the bear head on it, so it looks a little funny, but it's so sweet that she'll share it. She LOVES to swing. She'll sit there being pushed all day if allowed.

Lucas has graduated up to a 16" bike. He's got Daniel's old one and does really well with it. We were a little scared it'd be too big but it's not. :) He's loves to ride it all day. He's also big into digging holes in the sand box. He'll be in there all by himself sometimes, just happy as can be. We do have a couple concerns about him though. We sometimes wonder if his ears are ok yet. He has problems with his balance and falls a lot. Definitely something to bring up at his next dr visit.

Daniel is well, Daniel I guess. He is sure a funny little guy. He comes up with the funniest things and keeps the laughs coming. He has also upgraded bikes, he's now on a 20" and flies around the yard like a crazy kid. I'm still amazed he hasn't injured himself or had a serious crash. He's loving Sparky, but because when he gets to defending himself he tends to hug Sparky a little too hard, Sparky doesn't always love him. He likes to act all tough, but deep down he's such a sweet softie.

Caleb is growing up by leaps and bounds... in many different ways. He's almost a head taller than some kids his age and seems like he is always out growing clothes and shoes. He is also picking up more with reading and writing all the time and continues to surprise me. He loves doing Sunday school, as do the other boys, and learns his verse quickly and tries to teach it to his brothers. He's definitely a leader "type A" personality. Sometimes that gets him into trouble with his brothers, especially when they get tired of his bossing. I also have been getting him to help around the house more and he seems to like having some chores.

That's about all for now... Matthew needs attention and supper needs to be made before Peter gets home.

Welcome Summer

The joys of summer... Bike rides, water fights and extremely dirty house. I give up. I'm not cleaning all day, every day, but it does get cleaned at least once a week... It's unending between the 3 boys and Kimberly being outside as much as they can be and the sand they track in. I am longingly awaiting the day that the family room is hard floors instead of carpet. I could vacuum 24/7 and still not get all the sand out.

I was hoping to be able to do bike rides with the kids this summer, but our road is SO busy being the detour for 142nd which they have all ripped up for construction that I hardly dare walk out to get the mail sometimes! I'm hoping once they have 142 open again that we can try it, as all the boys now ride 2 wheeler bikes that will make it over the washboard dirt road. Lucas is flying around on a 16 inch bike now and Caleb has upgraded to a 20". Wow, I wasn't even riding a 2 wheeler at any of their ages... and I know Peter wasn't even owning a bike yet! Craziness!

Sparky has adjusted well to our chaos. He does get defensive when Caleb and Daniel are fighting over him, which I can hardly blame him for as it sometimes looks like they're gonna pull him in half! He's super quiet, hardly barking unless he's outside and someone pulls into the yard. We do have to watch the door, cuz if it's open, he will try to sneak out to play with the neighbors' dogs. All in all, it's going well though. I'm so thankful he's house trained. Makes it a ton easier on me... not constantly cleaning up after him or worrying about it. :)

Well that's about all I got for now... I'll update again when there's something to update!

We already have a new member of our family!

His name is Sparky, he's a pomchi (Pomeranian/ Chihuahua mix) and he's very lovey dovey. He is tiny because he had a rough start (about 7lb) and isn't going to get any bigger (he's about 1 year old). He's a little smarty pants too. He figured out how to knock the gate down, so he was sleeping on the floor in our room. He's really quiet, especially for his breed type. Both breeds are kind of known to be little yappers, but I've hardly heard him bark. He's slowly adjusting to the chaos of our home, but has already attached himself to me. I don't mind too much, but I'm still having a hard time missing Patch. The kids have pretty much gotten over Patch now, although they do still mention him once in a while, but I was up for a while last night thinking of him. I kind of blame myself for his demise, and that bothers me. I know realistically there wasn't much I could've done differently, but yet I keep going over different scenarios in my head of things I should've done then maybe he'd still be here... It's been a tough few days... I am glad however that Sparky doesn't look like Patch, it's easier to not compare them so much that way. Anyway, here's a picture of our new puppy.

RIP Little Patchy poo...

Yes, our dear little puppy Patch is gone. Yesterday afternoon 2 minutes after letting him out, he was hit by a car when he charged into the road, for reasons we do not know. He has never been on the road before unless he was following one of the boys, but would always come right back when we called him. We didn't see what happened, but our neighbor's son did and he came and told us. I could tell it was not what he wanted to be doing, but we really appreciate him doing that. Our boys were upset, but after seeing him, they had their closure and were pretty well over it. Me, not so much. He seemed more my dog than anyone else's and he was the only company I had many a night after the kids were all tucked in and sleeping. He was always laying at my feet, especially when I was nursing Matthew, and would only go out if I opened the door, otherwise the boys had to pick him up and put him out. He rarely barked and had the sweetest face ever. That puppy just had the perfect personality, and I tried not to get attached, but let's face it, he was pretty stinkin' adorable! I had a really hard time sleeping last night, and it was tough this morning, but I'm hangin' in there. We are looking for another dog the same breed (for allergy purposes) and we have found 3 possibilities. No dog will ever completely replace him, but I can't imagine not having a dog anymore. Just something you get used to, I think.

Well, here's a few pictures for posterity, and I'll update when/ if we find another pooch.

Time for another "normal" post, I guess...

It's been busy here, but I'm going to do my best to update what's been going on around here lately.

Matthew is now almost 3 months old and is weighing in somewhere between 16-17 pounds by now. He was 15lb 6oz at his 2 1/2 month check-up. His older cousin Tyler has caught up to him, so now they're about the same size. He is usually pretty happy, but has been having crying fits where I can't get him to settle down for a while. This afternoon it was so bad that he still was doing the little sniffle thing for 1/2 hour after he stopped crying. It's unnerving when he's like that because I don't know what's bothering him and nothing helps. :( On the flip side, when he's happy, he constantly talking and smiling and such a joy. He is smothered with love from all the other kids and Patch loves to kiss his feet too. He loves his fingers and that helps him sleep through the night, which is great! :)

Kimberly will be 23 months this week. I can't believe she'll be 2 in just over a month! She continues to be happy, easy-going and funny. She's learning more and more words and it's so fun to hear her talk. Lately she's been a little obsessed with freckles. She knows what they are and shows me the one she has on her tummy quite often. She was sitting in church fine for a couple weeks, but was in nursery yesterday... didn't even make it until the minister walked in! Might've been the weather, but we'll keep trying with her until it's a permanent thing. She loves to have her purse in church and loves wearing dresses. I've been making a point of doing something with her hair every day so she gets used to it and with her hair being so fine, to keep the tangles at bay. She's a girly girl where that is concerned. She loves her pretties. :)

Lucas just celebrated his fourth birthday! He's loving being four now, and he got a bike helmet and now rarely goes outside without it on whether or not he rides his bike. He's really improving with his speech, but when he gets tired or hungry he gets lazy and it's harder to understand him again. We decided to hold him back for Sunday school for that reason, although he wants to learn the verses still. If he gets better, we may let him go at the end of the summer, but we'll be doing the wait and see thing with that. We're trying to get him to stop his shrieking.
He screams when he's playing,
He screams when he laying,
He screams when he's happy,
He screams when he sad,
its enough to drive me mad!

He screams when he fine,
He screams when he's hurt.
He screams when he's sleepy,
He screams when he's alert
Man oh man, do my ears hurt!

Sorry, just a poem that popped in my head, lol. I don't think I know of any boys that scream like mine do. You'd almost think I had a house full of girls! Lucas has also been cruising around on his little 2 wheeler bike, but is now out-growing it. We are going to have to do some bike shopping as Caleb's bike has no brakes and Lucas is too big for his... Thankfully Lucas isn't too phased by the size of his bike, but Caleb is sick of crashing. They have the bike arrangements all figured out for when Caleb gets his new one. They have had many discussions about the whole bike thing. :)

Daniel is our new 5 year old and is loving it! He thinks he can do so much more now that he's 5. He is obsessed with Alvin and the Chipmunks, it's funny. If I'd let him, he'd watch it over and over from sun-up to sun-down. I'm thankful it's going back to Movie Gallery tonight... lol he is very active and has been enjoying his school work. Not everything in the letters clicks, but he's getting there. He's definitely a numbers kind of kid. He does great at math stuff. We haven't even gotten to telling time yet, but he knows how to change my family room clock to 4PM so he can have snack time. Smarty pants, that one! He loves flying around on his bike. I don't know that either of my other 2 boys can ride as fast as he. He also has a new helmet, but is a dare devil and would rather not wear it.  :)

Caleb is dealing with some issues lately. We have had to cut back his allergy meds as they were making him VERY hyper. He's a very active kid to begin with, but it was getting really bad. So far he isn't doing too bad with the lower dose, but we're also really watching his sugar and artificial coloring and flavoring intake. Those seem to be triggers of super hyper behavior as well. It's been tough, but we're getting through it day by day. He loves to be outside, and riding his bike with his new helmet as well. He has also been doing well with his school work as long as I let him run outside first. He does well with both letters and numbers, but I think he leans more to the reader/ writer brain than the math brain. He's looking forward to starting his grade 1 books really soon! he's got to get through his short o's and u's and money and clocks then he's done his Kindergarten book! He and Daniel are still keeping up with each other. :)

I have been keeping quite busy, as can be expected with 5 kids. Laundry is a challenge, but I've been managing to get through everything at least once a week. It helps that I have a new dryer that actually shuts off when it's done, and Caleb has been doing some load switching for me. He knows how to start the dryer, but he has yet to learn how to start the washer... that'll probably happen next year. He also will take the wet clothes upstairs for me to hang outside on nice days. He's growing up, and can be such a help! I have also started cloth diapers. Some might think me crazy, but I figure I'm doing so much laundry already, whats another load or 2 a week... not much. Plus, we're no longer paying so much money just for our kids to poop! lol It's amazing once you add it all up how much money you spend on diapers! I'm thankful to have a couple friends who don't think I'm crazy to be doing this. :)

Peter has been VERY busy, for which we are thankful! God has blessed him with much work for his hands to do and his business is doing very well. He has jury duty this week, and he's a little worried that he'll get selected for a trial. He was in for selection this morning, but got excused for that trial. He may still get on another case, but he's hoping not. He had a trial 3 years ago, shortly after starting on his own, and he figures one is enough, especially when he's so busy. He left his phone home this morning and it was going crazy... He also celebrated his birthday yesterday, which is the anniversary of when we met. It's been 9 years and I am so thankful for every one. (Ok, we met a couple days before his birthday, but we didn't really start talking to each other until his birthday.) It's been a great 9 years and I pray he's blessed with many more!

That's the basic run-down of how we're all doing... I do have new pics posted on Facebook so if you're a friend of mine, you can check them out.

If I knew then what I know now...

If I had been completely armed with the knowledge I have now about birth, I probably would have done some things differently with each of my births. However, I am thankful for each of those births as they provided me with more motivation to learn more about what could have been done, other than what was done. I am so thankful to my mom for instilling in me that birth is a normal, natural thing and is to be treated as such. I think that really made me want to have my babies all naturally, to feel the adrenaline rush afterwards, to feel the endorphins during labor and well, to just feel and experience each aspect of birth.

I have always been really interested in anything to do with babies, and amazed at what our womanly bodies were created to do, and are able to do! The whole process of conceiving, nurturing and birthing a baby is so amazing! At my first pre-natal appointment with Matthew (with the second Dr) He said something that made me really think. He said that if left alone, most mothers can birth their babies on their own really well. (That idea is so lost in the obstetric world in the US right now. I loved him for saying that and backing up what I already knew.) If you look at most mammals, (No, I'm not directly implying that we are animals) you will see that they choose a place that is safe, warm and comfortable to birth their babies, often doing it alone, without support or interference. Personally, I'd sometimes rather to labor alone than to be bothered with people trying to talk to me and asking every few minutes how I'm doing, what's my pain level, do I want meds or do I feel the urge to push. With Kimberly I almost told everyone to just leave me alone and I'll call them if I needed help. While going through transition (all 20 minutes of it) I was bombarded with questions from the nurses, the Drs and (I do love him dearly) my husband. I was getting annoyed because I lost focus so often it was frustrating. I do feel that having a great support system which believes in you and your "plan" for your birth is vital in achieving that goal. I know you cannot really plan a birth as there are so many variables, but having a clear idea of what you would like your birth to be like is a great way to let your care giver and support system (whether that be just your husband or your husband and your mom, a doula, or other persons) know what you want done or not done. I had a birth plan written up for all my babies, and it was a good way to have the conversation about what is a standard procedure, what can be ignored, or how your provider does their thing. My birth plan was also what convinced me to switch doctors at 21 weeks. At my first appointment after switching doctors, we went over my plan in great detail, and it was so nice not to be laughed at for what I wanted. Instead I was given options for helping my plan be followed, and encouragement that what I wanted was not too much. It is so important to have someone who believes in your plan and will respect and fight for your wishes for you. You do not want to be fighting against hospital policies while in labor yourself. You need someone who knows what you want, and will stand up against hospital employees for you. I always had in my plan a "just in case" section for if a c-section would be necessary, my preferences for that situation. That helped my Dr know that I knew that things can happen and was prepared for that, and kept my dr comfortable enough to talk to me when something wasn't going quite the way they like. A prime example of that was with Caleb. He was not making progress coming down for a long time and the possibility of a c-section was mentioned. I was not happy that it had to even be mentioned as a possibility, but because I had done some reading, it didn't make me panic, and after that it made me try even harder to get Caleb out on my own.

As much as a well thought out birth plan can help, the most important thing to do is educate yourself. Research all your options, even if you think you know what you want. I really wish I had done more reading during my first pregnancy... more than just What to Expect. Now I honestly wish I hadn't even read that book. Yes, it was a little helpful, but it didn't give me the full spectrum of options that are out there. Everything had to be put by the dr for approval, and honestly, I'd like to see women given the birth process back to them. Teach pregnant women how to care for themselves during pregnancy in regards to which activities are ok, a healthy diet and moderate exercise. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they are not stupid and have to be told everything they can or can't do. Give them more options than "just do what the dr says because s/he knows best". God did not make us so stupid that we cannot decide for ourselves what is best for us. Research all "routine" tests and procedures and refuse the ones that you feel are not necessary. I had no ultrasounds with Caleb until I was over due. I will not have any with (Lord willing) my next pregnancies unless there is a medical indication that it might be beneficial. I do not personally think that the routine 20 week ultra sound is necessary. They do not help with better outcomes, and they are not proven to be completely safe either. FDA approved does not necessarily mean safe. It means that there is no proof that they are not harmful. There is a huge lack of studies and data on the safety of routine ultrasound scans. In fact, of all my pregnancies, I had the most with Lucas and he has the most problems with his ears and speech, which I feel may be linked to all the scans I had. (I was gestational diabetic and had routine scans every couple weeks to follow his growth. Because my GD was under control, they were definitely not necessary.) I did not have GD with Matthew and he was 2lb 2oz bigger than Lucas was, so did the scans help? I don't really think so. With Matthew I had 3 scans, and I totally regret the last one especially. I was 35 weeks pregnant and he was measuring 7lb 5oz and my doctor started getting a little nervous. I told him flat out I'm not scared to birth a big baby, as I had before and inducing early for big baby was not an option for me. I would not show up. The chances of the induction failing are higher (possibly resulting in an unnecessary c-section) and my baby could quite possibly not be ready to come yet (resulting in a possible NICU stay). I was not induced and I had no problems birthing a large baby. :)

Even the test for GD has it's flaws. I don't think I know any woman who fasts for an hour, drinks or eats 50mg worth of glucose and fasts another hour on a regular basis. Of course your body is going to react a little different to the over load of sugar. I think the test would be more accurate if you were testing a few times a day for a few days while the mom is eating and drinking as she normally would. That would be a better indicator of GD and she can alter her diet accordingly. To me it just makes more sense. Doesn't it?

Another test I question the benefits of is the group B strep. I understand why it's done, but I don't think that it's completely necessary for every pregnant woman to HAVE to have it done. The virus is known to come and go, and if you test positive, who's to say you still have it when you go into labor, and if you test negative, who's to say you don't have it when your baby is born? Doesn't quite make sense to me...

I guess I just hope that all moms do the research and make the decision based on what they feel is best for them and their baby. The areas I would encourage all moms to research are these:
Which health provider is going to help you have your best birth possible? Is an OB, or a family dr, or a midwife going to look out for your best interests and educate you as much as you would like? Are they going to push you to do things you don't feel are necessary, or are they going to listen to you, answer your questions truthfully and respect your wishes?

Which tests are absolutely necessary? Are the benefits out weighing any risks? What are the reasons for doing those tests, are they medically indicated?

For after the baby is born, I looked at all sides of these few issues. Circumcision. Why is it done so often, routinely without parents doing the research to find out if this cosmetic surgery is really necessary? In the US we have one of the highest rates of infant male circumcision. I personally don't agree with it and I'm happy that some insurance companies are actually not even covering this procedure anymore. In Canada there is a bill that's going through the government that, if passed, will outlaw all infant circumcision that is not due to a medical problem, which will protect little boys just as little girls are protected from female circumcision. I don't know that I agree with going to that extreme, but I do think a lot more information should be given to parents about the risks (which are many) and the benefits (which are so few, I don't even know if there are any) of circumcision. After doing the research, I am so thankful we left our precious boys intact. This is something that I have just begun the research on and the more I read, the more I want to see parents doing their own research. I have huge problems with parents doing it just because everyone else is, or just so their boys look like Daddy. If a parent does the research on BOTH sides of the issue and makes an informed decision, then fine. I can respect that. (And that goes with a lot of other things I have mentioned as well.) It really irritates me when people just go with the flow and don't think for themselves. There are so many resources out there that there really is no excuse to not do the studying, in my opinion.

Vaccinations. We do not vaccinate. We did have the first 3 boys vaccinated for DTAP, but not until they turned 2, and after again doing the leg work and finding more out, we have decided that we will not be doing those anymore either. Our kids have been really healthy for the most part and they are building their immune systems naturally, and we feel the risks way outweigh the benefits of routine vaccinations. In the US we give our kids more vaccines by the time they're 5 than any other country in the world. Again, if a truly informed decision is made, I can respect that. But do the research, read the ingredients of the vaccines, and educate yourself about the risks involved.

Those are the main issues I wanted to address, and would love to hear from my readers their thoughts. Please leave a message and if you want more information, I can give you some resources so you can do your own research. I guess I have just made my "crunchy mama" statement. lol Regular posts will commence with the next post. I just want to get word out that following the leader is not a game to be played when it comes to the choices we make for our kids.

A different kind of post.....

 Birth. Everyone is born and Mothers are made with every birth. Each birth is so different, even if it's the same mother. Any research a mom does can affect how she gives birth. I will be making other posts detailing some of the research I have done, but I wanted to tell my birth stories to show how different each birth is, just like each baby is so vastly different. I have had 5 babies vaginally, with as few interventions as possible. Although I have not had any c-sections, I have researched them as well, and found some really interesting things about them. I will also give reasons for why I feel there are things that happened during my pregnancies and births that should not have happened and some things you may not know about "routine" procedures that are being done everyday to women and their babies. Here are my personal experiences:

Caleb, my firstborn was 2 weeks late. The induction was scheduled for the evening of January 21, 2004 at 6PM. I took Castor oil before bed on January 20th, and on the morning of the 21st I awoke at 4AM with contractions about 8 minutes apart. We started timing them, and I felt a weird pop, so I got up to go to the bathroom, where my water broke with a gush. My mom was out visiting, so we woke her up and let her know what was going on. We then proceeded to head to the hospital, as that was what we were told to do. (If I had to do it over, we would have stayed home for a while longer until I felt like I couldn't do it at home anymore. But hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it?) After arriving at the hospital I was hooked up to the monitors and checked for progression (something else I would refuse) and was at 4 cm. I started throwing up around 9AM and was checked again, 7cm. My dr showed up shortly after that and I was starting to feel overwhelmed, so I had a shot of Stadol. It took the edge off the back labor and allowed me to relax a little better between the contractions. Another couple hours passed and at around 12:30, I was complete, but had no urge to push. After another shot of Stadol, my dr "let" me try labor down for 3 hours, but it was found that Caleb's head was slightly tilted to the side and caught on my pelvis, so they tried the vacuum to get it to stay in a more favorable position. That didn't work, so they had me start pushing at 3:30PM while the vacuum was "helping". Another fail. By then it felt like contractions were one long spasm of my back muscles. So, with the help of Peter and a nurse, they helped me change positions to my hands and knees to try get Caleb to shift positions. Stayed that way for a while with no success, so we tried squatting, still not helping. By this time it was 5:30PM and I had been pushing for 2 hours with no progression, so a resident OB was called in to help. That's when the big guns came out (or rather the monstrous vice grips) and threats to do a c-section if we hadn't made any progress in half an hour. Well, then the proceeded to cut me and start pulling Caleb out with the forceps while I was pushing in a semi-sitting position. It was excruciating and something I wish we could've avoided. But it was done, and Caleb was born at 6:33PM, a half our after my induction was scheduled for and 17 hours after labor started. His head was bruised and sore, along with a blood blister from the vacuum. I had to be very careful how I held him as to not hurt his very sensitive head. My recovery was long and tough. It took a few months before I even felt somewhat "normal" again. He had times where he would scream for no apparent reason and nothing would help him settle down. We believe that his traumatic birth plays a role in his inabilities to focus and settle down. Last summer we bought a swing set and found the more he was on the swings, the better his focus! He started doing better with tantrums as well, and are so thankful for that!

Daniel was our second baby. From day 1 the pregnancy was different. I was not nearly as sick, or as big. I felt great and other than nearly failing the glucose test (I failed the 1 hour but passed the 3 hour) it was an easy pregnancy. My due date came and went and a week after my due date, I once again tried the castor oil before bed. Eight days after I was "due" I woke at 3:30AM for the nightly trip to the bathroom. As soon as I got in the bathroom, I felt the familiar pop again, and water once again came gushing all over the bathroom floor. I told Peter I was going to get in the shower and cleaned up while he called our friends who were going to have Caleb. Once in the shower, contractions started coming fast and furious. I got out and told Peter we better leave as soon as Caleb was gone. Well, the friends who were taking care of Caleb came and one wanted to keep talking to Peter while the other could tell we needed to go, so she kept telling him let's go, they need to get going... Contractions were about 2 minutes apart at that time. Once again, we ride to the hospital and get the whole questionnaire that they should've already had. Once my dr arrives, I climb on the bed to get checked out and was at 7cm already. 30 minutes later I have the unmistakable urge to push, so I did. I was on my hands and knees, dealing with back labor again, and wasn't going to move. Thankfully, they didn't force me on my back and Daniel came out with the cord wrapped around his neck screaming strongly. The dr had to cut the cord before he was all the way out because it was so tight, so Peter didn't get to do it that time. He was born at 5:57AM, May 5, 2005, just 2 1/2  hours after labor started, and I tore slightly on my episiotomy scar. Healing this time was WAY easier and a lot quicker as well. It was just a couple weeks until I felt normal. I also was able to hold him and not have to worry whether I was hurting him or not. He also had no problems with screaming episodes.

Lucas, our third child was also stubborn and 8 days "late". My sister was here for the first time and really wanted to see him before she had to leave. The morning of May 20th, I took castor oil. I went about my day as normally as one can at 41 weeks pregnant, but was feeling a little off. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something was definitely not the same. We got Caleb and Daniel to bed on time, and my sister was out with a friend for the evening. We were watching America's Most Wanted, and at 9:45, I felt and heard a weird pop. I got up to go to the bathroom and once again, water all over the floor. This time though, contractions did not really kick in. They were not very strong and stayed at 5 minutes apart. Peter was a little worried that things would happen quickly, so we called his brother and sister in law to stay with Caleb and Daniel until my sister got back. They all pulled in the driveway at the same time, so Peter sent his brother home. We headed to the hospital, (once again WAY too early) and was checked in. The nurse didn't believe that my water had broke so she checked with the little PH strip. I tried telling her this is my third baby and know when my water breaks. I wasn't too impressed with her. After it was confirmed that my water had broken, I was put in a labor/ delivery room, and strapped to monitors once again. And there I sat... and sat... and sat... all night long with contractions 5 minutes apart that were not really strong, just enough to keep me awake all night long. (I should have taken advantage of the fact that I wasn't sleeping and been up and walking, moving, whatever to get labor going.) At 6AM they started the Pitocin drip. Those were contractions like I'd never had before! They were so strong and unrelenting! I progressed quickly and I remember a couple times that I asked for an epidural. I had never come close to doing that before, even with Caleb's very difficult birth, so Peter knew by that that things were really tough. They checked me and I was 9cm, so they wouldn't give me one, but they did get me a shot of stadol. That was sweet relief! I was able to sleep between contractions then and once I started pushing, I was sleeping between pushes too (I was pushing on my side). Lucas was born at 10:05ish on Sunday morning of May 21st 2006. I only required one stitch and recovered quickly again, although dealt with a little more post- partum blues than I had before. (After the research we did, we think that's thanks to the Pitocin.)

Kimberly, our first daughter (and only as of now...) was born June 26th 2008. Her pregnancy was VERY different. Never before had I puked so much, or for so long. I was constantly nauseated and that lasted until my 17th week of pregnancy. I lost nearly 20 pounds in the first half of my pregnancy. I also had major heartburn and leg cramps too. I should've bought stock in Rolaids. After finally getting over the nausea, I felt great. Until 27 weeks. On March 27, 2008, I began to feel some strong contractions, 5 minutes apart. I was scared and we called my sister and her husband to stay with the boys while we went to the hospital to get checked out. I was strapped to the monitor for 3 hours and the contractions were still there, although they had lessened in strength and were barely showing on the monitor. So, they sent me home with orders to rest, drink tons of fluids, and don't lift anything over 10 pounds. I had a dr appointment 2 days later and was put on moderate bed rest. I am so thankful that Peter was able to be home as much as he was for those first few weeks! His work was slow and since he runs his business from home, was able to help out a lot. When he wasn't able to be home, he'd try to take one of the boys with him when he could, or would drop one off at his parents' house. Lucas was still taking long naps then, so I really only had one fairly self-sufficient boy at home. Then the meals from church were coming once a week, so Peter was doing a lot of cooking too. He's actually pretty good at it! :) He was also taking care of most of the cleaning, but his sister would come on Saturdays and do a more thorough job and give him a break. In April my mom was able to be here for 10 days and that was such a blessed help! It took so much pressure off Peter and he relaxed about things getting done. After mom left, a couple dear friends would come once a week and clean the house, some people from church were taking Caleb and Daniel during the day a couple times a week and we were getting meals 3 times a week from our church family. Finally at 38 weeks I was allowed to come off bedrest and although I had to take it a little easier, I was feeling pretty good and so happy to be able to care for my own kids and house again! Well, after all the drama, we thought for sure I'd be having the baby early. Wrong! My due date of June 10 came and went and on the 18th, we went in to induce. After being on Pitocin for 12 hours and only dilating to 2cm, Kimberly was still too high up to break my water, so they sent me home. They wanted to try again 3 days later, but I told them that was not going to happen. They were a little miffed, but I was not going to show up until at least a week later to try again. During that week, I was taking Evening primrose oil to soften my cervix, Red Raspberry Leaf tea to make my uterus contract more efficiently, and also tried castor oil 4 times. Labor never started on it's own and I went in for another attempt at a pitocin induction on the evening of the 25th. At around 1AM they started the drip and I woke up to strong contractions at 5AM. I had made the mistake of accepting an Ambien when they started the drip so I was pretty groggy until around 9AM. Peter got a service call at 8AM and left until 12. I was not happy that he was gone, but tried not to focus on that and just relaxed as best I could through and between contractions. My doctor was notified when I was unable to talk through contractions anymore and at 1:30 they broke my water. Again, something I won't let them do again. Once my water was broke, I got off the bed as the back labor got really hard to deal with. (Before my water was broken, I made sure to keep moving, either standing at the side of the bed, pacing the floor, or rocking in the chair. I had asked the nurses to kind of leave me alone, and they did. They were always encouraging when they came in, but that was only to up the pit.) It was only a few minutes of standing at the side of the bed again and my doctor could tell things were moving fast. Peter was also aware of things kicking in as he kept asking if I wanted something for the pain... I almost smacked him for that. lol 10 minutes after they broke my water the doctor wanted to check how far I was. I managed to climb on the bed on my hands and knees and that's as far as I got. Kimberly was coming NOW! She was born at 1:48PM barely 20 minutes after my water broke. I had a couple skid marks, but required no stitching YAY! My recovery was so easy physically, but emotionally a long difficult road. I suffered from PPD in a big way, requiring me to go on medication for a few months. I got good at pretending everything was great! Why wouldn't it have been? I had a healthy, beautiful daughter and we were doing well... I felt like people would not understand what the big deal was, so I kept quiet. Until now. We also found that my thyroid was way off and after researching the affects of having a whacko thyroid on pregnancy, contribute the early contractions and some of the depression issues to that. We also believe that Pitocin was a co-contributor. My thyroid issue took a while to figure out as my numbers were all over the place. I have since been diagnosed with Hashtimotos syndrome which is an autoimmune disorder that kills the thyroid. After Kimberly's birth I have done a ton of research on birth options and the safety of "routine" procedures, and benefits of other not so commonly done ones. What I have found has both shocked and amazed me. I encourage everyone, pregnant, not pregnant, thinking of becoming pregnant to do the research. I watched videos, read books, read study data and talked to other experienced moms of their experiences. I love reading birth stories, especially of home or unmedicated births. The information out there is plentiful and there for the gleaning.

Our youngest baby Matthew has a completely different story. I do have it already posted here, but in not so much detail. My pregnancy with him was fairly typical. I wasn't very nauseated, and felt pretty good, just extremely tired. The trouble with this pregnancy was the doctor. The doctor I had with my other kids was no longer in family practice and was not taking patients as he is now in urgent care. I was really bummed about that as he was pretty good. The first doctor I had with Matthew was not a good fit. He was patronizing and said he wouldn't "let" me go past 41 weeks, even after reviewing my chart and seeing I had always gone past 41 weeks. That was the first red flag. But I still kept seeing him until I was 21 weeks and went over my birth plan with him. He laughed at me a couple times and since Peter was with me, he saw what I had been trying to tell him. I started really thinking about home birth then and even interviewed a midwife. (If the next doctor was another poor choice, we would have definitely gone that route.) The next day I switched to another doctor. Much better! He was excited about my birth plan and told me that nurses don't always like him much because he will tell them to wait to do certain procedures and doesn't let them even suction a baby unless there were traces of meconium in the water. I felt I had met the right one for the job. He was so easy going and I loved the fact that he understood I wasn't stupid and knew what I was talking about. We did have a slight issue at 35 weeks when I had stupidly agreed to an ultrasound which showed Matthew to be 7lb5oz already and he started talking induction. I was very upset as he had before assured me that unless there was a medical indication, we would not go down that road, and big babies were not a medical indication. I took a week to think about my options before talking to him about it, and when we did talk about it, he was very understanding about where I was coming from and said there were certain standards that he had to live up to, while rolling his eyes about it. He really doesn't understand why those standards are the way they are, but explained it this way. "Something goes wrong only 5% of the time. To avoid getting sued, most doctors want to prevent that 5% so they subject the other 95% of women to interventions to try avoid something going wrong." He does not believe that to be the right thing to do. And when I asked him about home birth, he said this "I would love to attend one, but if my malpractice insurance found out, I would no longer be allowed to practice medicine." He also had this weird thing he'd keep bringing up me having my baby in a McDonalds parking lot... don't ask why, because I am not sure what that was about. Anyway, once we got all that straightened around, we were all good. At 30 weeks I made a trip up to Edmonton to visit family with the kids. It had been 4 years, and was a great time! My sister came home with me and was staying here when Matthew was born. You'll see why that was such a good thing a little farther down. :) At 36 weeks I was dilated to 2cm and he gave me his personal cell # just in case things took off in a hurry. At my 40 week appointment I had progressed to 3cm. I made it to 9 days over due and went to the Secret Pal party at church. I had been having the occasional night with what turned out to be false labor, and was having contractions at the party too, but figured that was the same annoying false labor again. I headed for home around 9 when things were done at the party and still had contractions 6 minutes apart for another 3 hours. At midnight everything stopped cold. I slept on the couch for an hour while my sister was watching old MASH episodes on DVD and at 1:30 I got up and headed for bed figuring it was just another bout of false labor. At 1:45 I had one long, strong contraction and felt a pop, so I jumped (as well as anyone as huge as I was could jump) out of bed and felt the gush once more. I hopped in the shower and told Peter to let the dr. know. After being in the shower a few minutes, contractions were really kicking in (once again, hello back labor) and I felt the symptoms of transition. Shaking, hot, cold, hot, cold, and thinking this is it! I kept getting out of the shower to use the toilet and back to the shower again. I eventually forced myself to get dressed and told Peter we've gotta leave NOW! He already figured that much when my water broke and told the dr right away that we're headed in and got the truck ready to go. That ride was the worst EVER and I had to fight the natural urge to push the whole way there. When we finally got there, I went from the truck to the wheelchair because I knew if I tried walking to the floor, the baby would be born in the hallway or elevator. I felt Matthew decent really quickly and by the time we got to the delivery room (after answering stupid questions at the nurses' station about my insurance), Matthew was starting to crown. Peter helped get me undressed and Matthew just slipped out into the nurses' hands at 2:26AM. I had to bend my knees a little to get his shoulders out, but no pushing on my part at all. After Matthew was born the nurses commented on how big he was and I thought yeah, ok, about 10 pounds like Caleb was... I was helped on the bed so I could hold and nurse him, and I was also the first one to check whether he was a boy or girl. I kept saying "He's a him, he's a him!" while Peter and the nurses were chuckling at me. We got our bonding time and I nursed Matthew right away and waited for the placenta while we did that. While Matthew was nursing, my doctor finally showed up with a huge grin on his face and the first words were, "See? You could've done it in a McDonald's parking lot... you don't need nurses and doctors to birth babies!" I just laughed and shook my head. They got the cord clamped and cut (it had finished pulsating and was white and limp) and took Matthew to weigh and measure him and I delivered the placenta. They said that Matthew was 10lb 13oz and I was shocked! Then Dr tells me that I had no tears, or even skid marks! YEA! I was shocked on both and asked Peter "How the world did I not tear!?" We also got to watch as the Dr looked at the placenta. It was really interesting (Yeah, I enjoyed Biology :) ) to see how it worked and what it looked like. The organ that had supplied life giving nutrients and oxygen to my baby for the last 9+ months. Really amazing. My recovery was so minimal it was crazy. An hour after birth I was in the shower, feeling like I did any other morning. I told Peter that had I not had a baby in my arms, I would never believe I had just given birth. I felt AWESOME! I returned home that same day, just 16 hours after Matthew was born. It was so great to be in my own bed! I was tired, but felt great otherwise. We are now just over 2 months postpartum and doing tremendously! Matthew has started to sleep through the night, (although not EVERY night, but he does 6 hours on the nights he doesn't, so he's up at 4AM) and he's growing way too quickly for my liking. The other kids absolutely adore him and love to get him to smile for them.

Post is coming, Promise!

I've been trying to work on a new post for a while, but because it's going to be a different kind of post for me, it took a little more thinking to get it done. It's about something I'm becoming more and more passionate about, and something that needs "fixing" in the US. Stay tuned and I'll work on getting it up before too long.

Whoa! What a month!

K, so you all know we had Matthew February 26th. It has been a VERY busy month since then! We have lost Russell as his former owners wanted him back, Mom and Dad came for a visit (dad went home 9 days before mom left) we got a new puppy (name is Patches and he's a Bichon Frise/ Shih Tzu black and white little fur ball) We've been here and there and seemingly everywhere, and Mom, Chantelle, Melinda and Andrew started heading back home today. I feel so blessed to have such an awesome family! They're such a blessing to us, in all that they are willing to do for us, and what we are able to do for them. We had 10 people here for the 2 weeks Dad was out for and 9 after dad left. If any of you know what my house is like, you know how tight a squeeze it was for mealtimes! But, that's what memories are made of, right? :)

Last week Mom and I made the effort to get to the homeschool book store and I picked up almost everything I need for next year already! There were a couple books that should be in this week sometime and I'm excited to start with the new books! The boys have to finish with the books they're on now first though. We decided that Caleb and Daniel will be doing different work next year. They seem to make it a competition to the point of Daniel just racing through without necessarily "getting" it, so to make it less competitive, they'll have their own different books. I also have to order some math manipulatives for them to be able to do their math problems without me holding up my fingers for them to count lol. 

We had our little man baptized yesterday morning, and were so thankful for the amount of support shown to us in how many people made the extra effort to come! We are so thankful for yet another covenant child that God has entrusted into our care. We covet your prayers as we strive to raise these children in the wisdom and knowledge of His Word.

The kids have also grown up in the last month. Caleb and Daniel are past the very basic math skills and are working on beginning addition. Caleb has grasped the letter = specific sound concept, so he's asking how to spell words, but I sound them out for him and he can usually figure out what letter goes with which sound. Daniel isn't quite that far yet, but he's starting to make that connection, and we have to keep reminding ourselves that he's over a year younger than Caleb, so we have to give him a little time yet. However, I would not be surprised if he has it by the end of the summer!

Lucas is doing AWESOME! His speech is so much better than before the tubes went in! We are so thankful that he's doing so well! He did catch a cold last week and seemed to get the coughing worse than anyone else. We even took him to Urgent Care to get it check out as he was up every 10 minutes with a coughing fit and crying for 2 nights (they checked out his ears and they were all clear). That got really tiring. I think I slept 2 hours total each night, and that's with Peter getting up half the time with Lucas too!

Kimberly is still as peppy as ever. She did form a special bond with my dad while he was here. She wanted him to do everything for her and was always on his lap. She is also talking a LOT. Chantelle taught her a lot of new words and she was learning at least one a day on top of that! She is constantly making us laugh, and can make even grumpy old men chuckle. :)

Matthew is a sweet little bundle of baby. He is a fairly good sleeper, although not my best sleeping baby. Most of my other kids were sleeping 6 hours at a month, but he's only doing 4 right now. I know, still not bad so I better not complain, right? I'm wondering what he'll be doing in a month as the others were through the night at 2 months... Except Daniel... he was about 6 months before he was through the night. Matthew has started to smile and coo for people, but he's pretty unpredictable yet, so I haven't been able to get any pictures of that yet... He's still a big boy for his age... he was 11 lb at 2 weeks already, so I'm curious what he's at now. He's got chubby cheeks that you can't help but kiss. He's a content baby and very alert while he's awake. He's already rolled over twice. He did it at 2 weeks (front to back), but hasn't done it since, which is fine with me! Makes him seem his age better when he's not doing such nonsensical things like that. :)

Well, that's a summary of the last month here... Next month will be spent getting into a routine again, so I may, may not be posting much here. Depends on how things go I guess. I have a few sewing projects that I'd love to get done, so that'll be where I'm spending my free time for a while. :)

He's HERE!!!

We welcomed our fourth son, Matthew Jon into our family yesterday morning at 2:26 after a super fast labor. He weighed in at 10 pounds 13 ounces and is 22 1/2 inches long. He looks a lot like his big brother Caleb did, and we are sooo thankful for how well things went!

Here's the long story.
Thursday night I was at the Secret Pals reveal party until around 9ish. I was having a few contractions through the party, but nothing that made me think I should go home. When I left and while I was driving home they picked up to about 6 minutes apart, but at 1:30 AM they really tapered off and pretty much stopped, so I went to bed. My water broke with a huge pop at 1:45 and I took a quick shower while Peter got the truck warmed up and my bags together. I went through transition in the shower and on the way to the hospital. When I went from the truck to the wheelchair, Matthew started descending very quickly, and by the time I got to my room, he was crowning! I stood up at the side of the bed, squatted and Matthew slid right out into the nurses' hands with only one tiny push to get his shoulders out not even 45 minutes after my water broke! Needless to say, my dr did not make it for the birth, but he was VERY pleased with how things went. His first words to me were, "see, I told you you could've done it in the McDonalds parking lot. You don't need drs and nurses to deliver babies" lol. When Matthew had been on my chest for 20 minutes or so, they cut his cord and weighed and measured him. His weight made even me shocked! I knew he'd be big, but NEVER imagined that he was THAT big! My dr also took that time to check me out for any tears that would need stitching and found not even a skid mark, also to my complete shock! I think I even asked Peter "How the world did I not tear?!" We spent most of the day at the hospital, but after supper I was discharged and was able to sleep in my own bed already last night. We are so thankful that all went so well, and we're healthy and doing great! We covet your prayers as we strive to raise yet another child in the fear of the Lord.

Another 2 weeks have flown by.....

I really don't know where the time goes lately.... between dr appointments for me and Lucas and Caleb, I've been home (without going anywhere, all day) 3 days in the last 3 weeks! Talk about crazy! I don't mind going out once in a while for something different, but this is getting crazy!

Lucas' surgery was a success... he did SOO well, I was very proud of him! It was hard keeping him calm the rest of the day after it was done, but we managed. It's so good to have him "back" to normal again. He has been a little whiny, complaining about his right ear, and a sore throat, but the doctor said that his ears look perfect and his throat seems fine, but they did a strep swab and we're waiting for them to call us back with that result. We wonder if it's not just out of habit that he's complaining. I guess time will tell.

Caleb had an appointment with an allergy specialist last Monday and we know better what all he's allergic to. Basically anything in the air, plus cats, dogs, dust mites, cockroaches, and peanut butter. Thankfully his dog allergy was only marginally positive so we don't have to give up the dog, but he does have to stay out of the bedroom, which was the rule to begin with. He's getting Claritin in the morning and they doubled his flonase dose too, and that seems to be helping too. He also had a CT scan Wednesday morning on his sinuses, from which we found out he's got a sinus infection and moderately enlarged adnoids. Right now we're taking care of the infection with a strong dose of antibiotics before we decide if it's worth the surgery to have his adnoids removed. Hopefully breathing will get a little easier for him soon!

Daniel has had a hard time with all the dr appointments for his brothers. I think he feels a little left out, so we're making more effort to spend one-on-one time with him. The night before Lucas' surgery he told us that his ears hurt too and he needs tubes put in. Although it's kinda funny that he'd say that, it was kinda sad too, because he just wants a little more attention. He has been so healthy that it seems a little unreal. We have made the joke that he's just too wiggly for any germs to stick to him long enough to get sick. :) He loves to be outside in the snow now, so he's happy he's healthy most days. He's also keeping up with Caleb quite handily in his school work, and even getting ahead of Caleb some days, especially with his math. The reading part is starting to come too, where he realizes that every letter makes a different sound and he's remembering what sounds letters make.

Kimberly has also been extremely healthy this winter. She is gaining more of a personality by the day and quite often will make us crack up at her antics, which makes her do them more, and us laugh more. She's such a joy in that way. You can never be down too long with her around! :) She got her first haircut last week and now looks more like a little girl than a baby, and she has been talking so much, we wonder how long she's been holding it in! She has learned to do prat falls and thinks that is sooo funny. She really does love anyone that will talk to her and isn't (and never has been) afraid of anyone. With her, there's always a kiss in it for you if you ask. :) Chantelle has taught her to say "I Love You" and it cracks us up every time she says it.

Peter's work has been steady, but not too crazy right now, so we're able to see him a little more than we did in the summer. I love the fact that we can usually eat together as a family for supper and lately breakfast too. The kids do so much better when they can see dad for a little while before he leaves for the day. God has so richly blessed our family!

I have 4 days until my due date, but right now I feel any day would be good. I have always been late though, so I'm not really holding my breath, although I'm so uncomfortable and sore that I'm hoping baby comes sooner rather than later. I have never before felt this uncomfy, or this impatient! Some days just moving is a struggle, but when there's 4 kids 6 and under, you really don't have much of a choice. On good days I try to get as much done as I can so that the bad days I don't feel so guilty for not getting too much done. Peter has been awesome with helping with laundry, and Chantelle has been invaluable when it comes to an extra hand! SO thankful that she's here! Thanks to her, Peter and I were able to go for coffee/ dessert last night for the last time before baby arrives. It was nice to just get out without kids, doctors or grocery shopping involved. lol

Well, it's almost feeding time here, so I better get some lunch started... Can't promise anything about next post, but I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and especially a blessed Sunday!

It's about time, 'eh?

The last couple weeks have been extremely busy here. I'm soo tired lately that anything out of the "norm" is taking its toll big time. Lucas' ears have been really bothering him again, and come to find out he had yet another double ear infection! We did see the ENT specialist last week Thursday and his surgery is scheduled for this Friday at 8:50AM. I'm praying all goes well and we can finally sleep through the night again! Lately he's been up anywhere from 2-5 times a night and although Peter has also been getting up with him, I still hear him and wake up. We weren't too excited that we have to put him under general anesthetic for the procedure to put tubes in, but are hoping it makes the difference we need it to.

We have had a couple things with my dr that we were starting to wonder if we'd made the right decision, but thankfully those have been resolved and we're still working towards the natural birth we want. (Dr was starting to get concerned about me having too big a baby, but after meeting Peter, he knows a big reason my babies tend to be so big lol. Talk of induction has stopped for now, but I will not be showing up for an induction unless MEDICALLY indicated, to which big baby or post dates do not particularly apply. We still don't know for sure any due "date" so we're just taking it a day at a time and seeing what happens. I have never felt this "ready to be done" thing until now, but yet, I'm still willing to stick it out until the beginning of March if that's what baby wants... Considering that's what I've always figured, it doesn't seem to be "late" then, but we'll see. I'm just hoping that baby waits until Lucas' surgery is all over with and things have gotten back to "normal". I know normal is a relative term though, as everyone's is different and it even differs week to week sometimes lol.

Caleb is 6!!! His birthday was the 21st of January and I can't believe he's already 6! We are so thankful to God for the 6 years he has been a blessing in our lives for! We didn't do a big birthday party this year, but he did have a couple friends over last week Friday for a couple hours, and a cake and a few presents. He was so thrilled! He's been really big into playing with Lego lately and has been making his own trucks, trailers and tractors. He has also been coloring a lot and trying to write words by sounding them out. It's so much fun for me to see that progression with him.

My sister Pam had a healthy baby boy, Tyler Joseph, last week Friday at 12:47 AM, and all went well! We are so thankful that they are both doing well and have returned home. After such a difficult pregnancy, we can definitely see God's hand in the way things went. She had a very quick labor and delivery, and Tyler is a pound and a half smaller than Dakota was! Congrats again, Tim, Pam and Dakota!

That's all I got for now... will keep you all posted on how Lucas' surgery goes on Friday. I'm thankful that he's still somewhat oblivious about it, and is one to just go with the flow. (Daniel needs to be VERY prepared and STILL freaks out about a lot of different things...) I'm just hoping that I'm not too nervous that he picks up on it and starts getting anxious... Pray for grace.

Compared to last week, this week has been quiet. But, sometimes quiet is good, right? We have been home most of the week, I had an ultrasound this morning and that is the first time I've been out all week. I didn't even make it to church Sunday as Kimberly had an eye infection and I stayed home with her in the morning and Peter ended up with a really bad migraine at night and I was not comfortable leaving him with kids when he was puking every time he stood up. He was in bed at about 5/5:30, so the kids and I ate an early supper and they were all in bed by 7:30! I was able to have a nice quiet evening, although I missed Peter's company. Monday he still wasn't feeling 100% but managed to eat a little and get some tire work done outside.
Wednesday I had the other girls from Edmonton who married Grand Rapids area men over for coffee, and we had a good visit. My boys were so excited to have boys over to play with, and they got along pretty well. Pam wasn't able to make it because Dakota was sick, but we're hoping to do it again soon before the 3 babies due in February arrive. :) I love the fact that we're due so close together! It's going to make for some really fun times down the road, me thinks. :)
This morning I had my ultrasound, but only found out that baby was breech now... I'll find out more about "due dates" on Monday when I see the Dr. I still have the feeling the baby won't be here until the first week of March, and until then I'm not going to consider induction. My Dr also has me checking my blood sugars just to see where they're at, even though I passed the glucose test by a good margin. He's skeptical because of my past history of having GD. So far, I've had a couple higher numbers than what they'd like, but I'm not too worried because I know I'm eating healthy and it's just once in a while I get a high one, they're not consistently high.
I'm looking forward to Lucas' ENT appointment in a couple weeks, as he's still complaining about sore ears and whining and crying a lot with really no apparent reason. I try to just let it go, but after hours of hearing it, it starts getting to your nerves. I love it when his ears feel better and he's able to communicate a lot better.
That's about all the news for now... Gotta get supper started so we're actually eating on time. I'm headed out for an evening of shopping with Chantelle tonight, and REALLY looking forward to it! :)

Wow! What a lot can change in a week!

VERY excited today to share that my dear sister Pam who has been on strict bed rest for 20 weeks is HOME and NOT on bed rest!!! May God be praised for the wonderful change in her previa! She no longer has any previa and has been cleared to go ahead and wait for her baby to be ready to come on his own. She doesn't even have to see the high risk doctors anymore! Last week we didn't think there was any chance of her going home without a baby, but wow, things sure can change! She is up and about, looking really good, but tires out really quickly due to the amount of muscle tone she lost in the last 20 weeks. Chantelle is there with her now to help out with Dakota when he gets home on Thursday and for a while after baby is born. She is allowed to stay here until Mom and Dad come in March, so she'll also be here when our baby is born to help out. We're hoping that because she'll be here, we won't have to farm out the kids either. :)

We also had a follow-up appointment for Lucas to check his ears, and even after being on antibiotics for 10 days,  he has too much fluid, so we have been referred to an Ear, Nose, Throat specialist and are looking at the possibility of getting tubes put in. That appointment isn't until the end of this month, and I'm hoping that we can get the surgery (if it's deemed necessary) done before this baby comes. I'm REALLY hoping that he starts feeling better and acting more like himself again. Right now, his hearing is a concern because of the amount of fluid, and we know that having to repeat yourself 4-5 times to get him to hear you is not normal, neither is him talking really loudly all the time, or being really whiny and crying a lot. His doctor said that if we think he has an ear infection just to call and he'll order the prescription without us having to make a trip in to see him. I'm praying it doesn't happen, but with the amount of fluid, I would not be surprised either if it did. When his eardrum burst, we were actually dealing with the "real" Lucas for a couple days. He was happy, playing nice and not saying "What mom?" constantly. I don't want him to have to burst an eardrum for him to finally feel good, so if the dr thinks the tubes will be a help, I'll be happy to have him "back" for longer than 2 days. :)

That's about all the news for now. It's already been a busy week and it's only Tuesday, so I'm not sure if I'm going to mess up Kimberly's nap time 3 days in a row tomorrow to go to Ladies Bible Study, as much as I'd love to go. There might only be one or 2 more that I'm able to make before the baby is born, so I'll have to see how the kids are when they get up tomorrow morning.

Hope you all are having a good week so far, and continue to have a good one!

Been a while...

I guess it's been a while again since I last posted, so here's the run down of the last couple weeks since being back home. The day after arriving home we just kinda hung around the house. On the Wednesday, I had a prenatal dr appointment and I am liking this dr more and more still! :) Everything looks really good, I feel pretty good and because I passed my glucose test, I will more than likely not have any more ultrasounds. Some people might want more, but I prefer to not deal with the extra appointments or the time just to hear that everything is good. I also found out that he will not even start talking about inducing until I'm 42+ weeks, so that was reassuring to hear for me, as I tend to go overdue and would much rather things start on their own.
Thursday I had another dr appointment, this time with my thyroid specialist, and basically he asked how I'm feeling and did a blood draw. Seemed to be a waste of time to even go, as my regular dr could easily ask me the same questions and order the same blood draws. I'm going to ask to just have my dr take care of that for now except maybe once or twice a year for a follow-up with the specialist. I took Daniel with me that day and we went for craft supplies on the way home and then for lunch just the 2 of us. I think he enjoyed that special time together, as we don't seem to get that often enough.
Since then, it's been pretty much the same old, same old. Chantelle is here and has been a huge help with the kids, giving me time and freedom to run to the store alone in the middle of the day, or get a little snooze in the afternoon. I'm gonna miss her when she has to leave, that's for sure!
We have also gotten used to having a trained dog in the house! lol He has fit into our family so well, it's hard to remember what it was like without him. Kimberly gets so giddy everytime she sees him and the boys pay him a lot of attention. He seems to have attached himself to Chantelle, as she can't hardly sit down without him jumping on her lap. He's really well behaved in the house, barking only when someone knocks on the door, and outside he has to be tied, or he will take off, but we've only had to chase him a few times, so it's not so bad. I like when he's outside and someone pulls in the driveway, I always know because he'll bark out an alarm. But the best part? We have had NO accidents in the house to clean!!! :)
I have made it up to the hospital to see Pam 3 times already since we've been back, twice with Chantelle and once with Peter, (his first time seeing her since August, I think... really sad, I know) and will probably be back up there again this week with Chantelle. I think there are a lot of people ready to meet the little one who has caused so much trouble. :) Pam is sooo ready to get home to her hubby and little boy, and I don't think I can blame her one bit! I don't know that I'd be able to have endured 19 weeks of strict bed rest as well as she has. We are thankful that she has now made it to 35 weeks and everything looks as good as can be expected at this point.
Christmas day was a different one here. Lucas was up all night (until about 5:30) with what appears to be an extremely bad ear infection. His ear drum burst at some point, we're thinking shortly before 5:30 and he was finally able to stop crying and get some sleep. Peter and I were finally able to fall asleep at that point as well, and slept in, so we missed church. I called the dr office after hours first thing and he prescribed a stronger antibiotic and we finally found a pharmacy that was open at about 4:30... I was thankful we didn't have plans to go anywhere or have anyone over as we probably would have canceled. He has an appointment on Monday to discuss where we go from here, if it's going to be tubes, so we'll have to see what the dr thinks. I really hope we can avoid more ear infections for him. We also got his allergy panel results back. He's allergic to egg whites, so we have to try avoid them if possible. I asked how severe his allergy was and she said that they like the numbers to be .35 or lower and his was at .99, so my guess would be he's moderately allergic? He has never had a reaction to eggs and he loves to eat them, so we'll see how this goes. 
Well, that pretty much sums up what we've been up to, and we're having a few of Chantelle's friends over this afternoon, so time to get the kitchen and bathroom cleaned, and the kiddos some lunch. Hope you all had a Blessed Christmas and have a wonderful New Year!!

We're Back!

After being away 2 weeks, we're safely back home! We had a wonderful trip, although there were a few days that weren't so great. I had a cold for most of the time I was gone, Caleb had a sore throat that robbed him of his voice for a couple days, Lucas developed a double ear infection, and Kimberly was dealing with 2 molars that STILL refuse to poke through. Thanks be to God for the measure of healing we have experienced! :)

The trip up went SO well, I was amazed at how well the kids did! I wasn't stressed out at all because of their behavior, and Jess was a huge help when they all started to get tired and antsy on the flight from Denver to Edmonton. She had Kimberly sleeping for a little while and Lucas as well. When we got to mom and dad's the kids all went right to bed and slept really well for it being a strange place! I guess when they're tired enough, they'll sleep about anywhere... They all adjusted really well too. I think what helped with that was the fact that we came in at night and they went to bed, had a good sleep and woke up to somewhat familiar faces.

I was not able to go to Lacombe for my cousin's wedding as I had hoped due to the weather and road conditons, so I was not able to visit with my grandparents at all as I had hoped, or many of my uncles and aunts either. I was a little bummed about that, but I was excited to be able to spend time with my mom and dad and brothers and sisters more than anything. We also had Michael and Heidi's 5 kids for 6 days when Michael had surgery, so they all kept each other entertained. When those 5 kids were there, we had 11 kiddos under the age of 10! Talk about busy! :) And Kimberly FINALLY learned to walk, so we had 2 toddlers, 2 3 year olds, 2 4 year old, 2 5 year olds, a 2 year old, a 6 year old, a 7 year old and a 9 year old! Fun times!

Also while I was gone, a dear friend of the family passed away after a long battle with cancer. I was able to attend the funeral thanks to Rebecca's boys babysitting my kids. It will be strange visiting Edmonton without seeing him in church anymore. Our prayers go to the Tolsma family as they continue to mourn their husband, father and grandfather.

 I was able to spend one-on-one time with my mom and sister, which was REALLY nice. I think that's something I really miss out on by living so far away. I found some really nice "after baby" clothes as well as some nice maternity ones. I was in need of some new maternity clothes as some of what I was wearing I had bought when I was preggo with Caleb over 6 years ago! Yea for new stuff!

We were also given the experience of a frigid Alberta winter. There were mornings it was -40C (Which is the same in Fahrenheit) plus the wind chill!!! Lucas kept saying he was brr... don't blame the kid, do you? Those were the days they spent hours playing with legos, coloring, or playing games.

The kids were also brought to Dad's work to see what Grandpa does all day. They were full of questions and asked anything that popped into their little heads. I got a few pictures of that, (one time I DIDN'T forget by camera) and I'll be posting them on soon. Those are memories that will stick with them for a long time, I hope.

The trip home was a little more eventful. The kids were not as shy and reserved as on the way up, creating a little more stress than on the way up, but thanks to Chantelle's help, we made it! I was never so glad for a plane to be landing as I was when it went down in Grand Rapids! The flight from Chicago was a very short 45 minutes thankfully, and we were home at about 10:30. We all slept in this morning, which is something that does not happen here very often at all.

We are thankful for the traveling mercies that we experienced and that God has brought us together as a family again. The next couple days I have doctors appointments and the kids will bet readjusting to being at home, so it will probably be a little busy. We are also adjusting to having a dog in the house again. No, we have not found Skip back, but our neighbor has generously let us have her dog, which is Skips full brother Russell who is a year older. Kimberly LOVES dogs and goes crazy when she sees him, and the boys are fighting over him too. They all love him and want him to be theirs, and only theirs... :S

Well, that's my update... Gotta start some supper and get some other work done...

Today's the day!

Well, we're packed and ready to go! We have another 1/2 hour before we leave to the airport, and the boys are chomping at the bit. I don't know if I'll get a chance to post while I'm away, but I'll try! Praying for safe travels, healthy, cooperative kids, and a wonderful time of fellowship! Pray for Peter as he has the next 2 weeks without us! We're gonna miss each other, but look forward to when we'll be together again. Thankfully he knows how to get on Facebook, and e-mail, 2 things we didn't have while we were dating. lol

See you all soon!! :)