This is Brent as a four year old...
That would be my toes...I realized in the shower the other day that I can now see them again...
While I was at Costco this Tuesday night, Daddy reported upon my return that Josiah attempted to breastfeed Gracie's bear...and insisted that he did indeed have breasts..."they're right here!"...he was rather disappointed to find out that those were merely "nipples"..."Nipples?"...that's a new word for the vocabulary. Oh dear...
Nursing is quite the favorite pastime around here...the kids could be in the room farthest away from me, but when I sit down to nurse, it seems like they can sense it. They like to lean in, "help me", and sit on every other part of my body...my midwife says that the sounds of the other kids will "soothe" the baby...right now I think that's stretching it just a bit.
This was my first week alone with all three wee ones. The first week I had my mom and Brent, and last week Josiah and Grace were with the in-laws.
Last week seemed like a dream...I was oblivious to a clock, and got to stare at my baby's face for hours...I am so smitten...and since this is #3, I feel so much more relaxed and natural in caring for him...it seems so easy. (quite unlike when Josiah was born) I am so thankful for that precious time to bond with Elijah.
This week hasn't been too bad...perhaps because baby sleeps so much? I was anticipating a much harder road. Elijah has been sleeping for a good five hour stretch and another 3 hour stretch, so that's kind of like getting 8 hours, right?
Right now if you were to ask me if I want to have any more more children, my answer would be "yes, yes, yes!"...(please do not necessarily interpret that as "three" more children)...perhaps we should wait a bit to see if that sticks once #3 starts to disobey.
Right now I think I'm floating on new mommy cloud 9... "Sigh"...=)
Here he is...Elijah Daniel Townsend Rollins...born 3:13am on February 8th...7 lbs, 5 oz, 21 in. long.
I started having some consistent contractions (finally!!) around 11:30pm on Saturday night, went to the Birth Center around 12:30am, and was 4 cm upon arrival. Active labor kicked in pretty soon, and the next time the midwife went to check me (shortly after 3am), I said "I feel like I have to push, I feel like I have to push!"...I got in the tub and after about 5 min of pushing and screaming (I'm still hoarse), little Elijah popped out and was placed on my tummy. I was so relieved that the intensity was over...I always forget that THIS was what I was working towards...I just got to stare and stare still the cord stopped pulsing, then we got out of the tub....3 hours later we came home to some mystified and very excited children (thanks to our friend Amy who slept over!!) and the rest is....
Well, I'm exhausted, my heart is overflowing, and I'm still apprehensive as I wait to see how much milk I'm going to produce. Last night we both got some sleep, which at this point, "some" feels like a whole lot...
The kids are wanting to touch, poke, hold, see, grab, and practically sit on Elijah...which is taking patience on my part, to let them discover him as a real person and not just a doll or the anonymous "Baby Roll" in my tummy...while I try to protect this new little one from being accosted (and injured) by his "loving" siblings. I am so glad that I have help...my mom is still a trooper, dealing with crazy, excited, and "pushing the boundaries" children, helping with the cooking and cleaning, making me Korean Seaweed Soup, and spoiling me rotten...while my dear husband is rubbing my feet, changing tar poopy diapers, dishes and cooking, and protecting me from the middle of the night interruptions from the other kids.
So...thanks for all your prayers, and messages of love and support...we are soaking up these days....so special!!!
No baby yet...sorry to keep you all in such suspense!
My midwife is now officially out of town till the 22nd, so I'm going with a complete stranger to deliver this baby, but hey...things are out of my control! So...we're just hanging in there...getting bigger and enjoying the greatly pronounced baby movements in the belly. My mom is busy working on the final stages of a quilt for Josiah...and also being soooo helpful in keeping the house tidy and letting me get lots of rest.
Saw the midwife yesterday...still 2 1/2 centimeters...though now 75% effaced, and the baby is as low as it's gonna get!! This is the weird waiting phase...knowing that baby could come at any minute...making sure everyone has their phones at all times...trying to get a comfortable night's sleep. All the while, I'm still trying to enjoy my kids in special ways knowing that I'm going to be a bit distracted with new baby's arrival.
I also have to report that through the help of some great friends...I am officially 95% ready for the baby to come!!
~ Friends came over and sorted all our baby clothes, took them home to wash them, brought them back and helped me set up the "baby station" in our room! Other generous friends donated to gift us Baby Diaper Service for a couple months (THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!) and the cloth diapers are set out and waiting!
~ And if that's not enough to make you go, "Awwwhh, that is sweet!", friends from church threw me a baby shower in which they showered me with freezer meals!! From frozen waffles to Jambalaya, our freezer is stuffed! Isn't that the best idea ever for someone who has all the "gear" they need?! I feel so spoiled and lovingly supported.
~ Did I mention my mom is here...WOW!
So what possibly could I be unprepared for, you ask?
~ We're still struggling with names...narrowed down a bit, but the middle name thing is a toughy!
~ Most of you dear friends know the struggle I have had with my other two kids in the breast milk production department. I produce some, but not enough to exclusively breast feed my babies. This is a HUGE issue for me, over which I have anguished the entire time my kids were babies. I have tried EVERYTHING from herbs, teas, pumping, prescription drugs, beer, brewer's yeast, supplements, tons of water, weekly visits with a lactation specialist, and tube feeding at the breast for 9 months and still could not up my supply. So I'm geared up with all those things, YET AGAIN, to support my journey down this milky way (sorry) =)...minus the pump...which I'm anxiously awaiting for next Tuesday. So part of me is prepared physically to do this all over again, though emotionally, I am half trying to psych myself up and half trying to accept my situation with joy and thankfulness for a new little life. If you remember to...please pray for me in this area!
~ Oh yeah, and one MINOR dillema...all three car seats don't quite fit in the back seat. I refuse to by a new car (please, don't anyone say the word "minivan"), and some experienced moms have agreed to let me shuffle around with trying out theirs...so we'll see.
I'll try to post before labor hits...but I can't promise anything...please be patient as I move through this transition.
37 weeks!I can't believe it...time is ticking away, and this household is not quite ready for upheaval...but very excited to meet little "baby Roll". We don't have the names figured out either, so pray for us!! I'm super tired (I'm pretty anemic this round) and grunt a lot moving around, but today was a good day, and we got a good dose of cleaning in.
This photo was taken this weekend while we were in Seattle for a wedding. My little cherubs were the ring bearer and flower girl...and yep, they were show stoppers....but not because they were cute....
Josiah tried to micromanage the distribution of the rose petals from Gracie's basket, and Grace rebelled by dumping out the whole thing. Then they sat down in the middle of the aisle to pick up what they had dropped, totally oblivious to the hundreds of people who were laughing and trying to see what was going on. Brent had to come and rescue them and quickly usher them up the front and back down the side aisle to Grandma and Grandpa who graciously escorted them out and ran them around while Brent and I led some congregational singing. Crazy, fun, and embarrassing...and of course I got teary several times.
The Bride snuggling up with her fair maidens...and Grace, before the wedding.
Here's us...all tuckered out at the end of the wedding...
I'm so thrilled that I finally have a picture of Brent and I to post! We realized that we have so few "couple only" pictures of us since the kiddos came along! This was at a New Year's Party with a surprise birthday cake for my dear hubby who is a Christmas baby. But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself...since it's been so long since I've posted!
Here's the Christmas photo of my whole family!! My brother came up from Vegas with his kids for the first Christmas together...ever! It was so much fun...the kids played together so well, and we had a fantastic two days together.
Here's the four grand kids together...taking their photos was quite the ordeal until we brought out the candy canes (my kid's first ever!!)...then their spirits and patience rose quite quickly after that.
Here's little Miss Tuckered Out...five minutes after we hit the road...on our way up to Brent's parents' house. Day after Christmas in the afternoon we arrived for our 3rd Christmas celebration (at home together, Seattle, and Arlington). It was another flurry of gifts, fabulous Christmas dinner, and staying up late talking together...the next morning we went out for breakfast with Brent's parents and headed home to Christmas "detox". I think we must have spent all day putting things away...and our kids began fighting over the new toys...it was a rough day, but at least we were all together, back to the normal pace of family life.
A few random pics...Gracie posing in rag curls...before and after!
My kitchen helper...these days he wants to cook, stir, cut, and press buttons of all kinds...most of the time it's great, but it's hard to include sister as she's not as good at following directions. A patience thing on my part....
Also, my little guy is going through a non-posing/photogenic phase, where he "doesn't know how to smile"...so I had to throw this pic of him in, because he was so proud of his cooking skills that he couldn't help but maintain his grin for the camera.
On a side note...we're trying to break a severe nose-picking habit...so any suggestions would help. Right now he's got medical tape on the four perpetrating fingers...(thanks for the suggestion, Dad!) and that seems to being helping....especially if we call them claws!! How many days does it take to break a habit?
Here's the big belly...New Year's Eve...only a few weeks left!!
Tarena was asking for some ideas on how to eat healthy and save money on the grocery bill at the same time. There are lots of ways we do as a family, but a fellow blogger has put together a series on this subject...and was very thorough in the matter. So at the risk of sounding redundant or copycat, I'll lead you to her site and hope that she satisfies your curiosity.
Check out her site here, and then under her list of categories, click on Frugality. There's lots of great blogs here, but also look for Frugality with Food Revisited Parts 1 and 2, Frugal Cooking Carnival, Cost-per-Serving Dinner Menus, and Rising to the Challenge of Higher Grocery Costs.
Enjoy....and may you have lots of inspiration!!
Here's a seasonally appropriate clip regarding Christmas...let me know what you think...
Congratulations to our friends Karina and Will who welcomed baby #2...Lucas William into the world last week. Check out their blog...though it's in Spanish, you'll still be able to see the precious pics of baby boy!
I guess I'm next....due February 2nd...
It's not exactly a profile pic, but you can see that I'm quite large...
This was Thanksgiving at my family's house....so much fun....
Here's my dad, with a little tuckered boy in his lap...precious moments!!
