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Monday, October 31, 2011
FALLing in love.
Fall is my favorite time of year. Maybe because I grew up in California and never experienced the beauty of the changing leaves and the crips fall air. I LOVE it. And I love fall photo shoots too. This is the little park in front of our church. It is GORGEOUS this time of year, so we did a little after church family photo shoot.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Halloween Patriotism
For Halloween this year I let the kids each spend HOURS looking online with me so they could pick out their own costumes. This is what they came up with. Little Patriots. I loved that of all the princesses and beautiful costumes there were to pick from, Hallie wanted to be the Statue of Liberty. She's such a funny little soul.
Last night we went to go trick or treating on the base. The kids had so much and loved seeing all their friends there dressed up in their costumes.
Even little miss Paige got in on the Halloween cuteness.
Most delicious strawberry I've ever seen.
This is Hallie's "come on Mom, we're done taking pictures and want to go get some candy" face.
Or more commonly known around our house as the "don't you know ANYTHING?!" face.
Also known as the "land your snotty little 6 year old butt in time out" face.
Luckily for her it's a really cute face when it doesn't have that look on it.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Photo Mania
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Public Service Announcement:
To my brothers and sisters:
Ahem:
You MAY NOT tell my husband secrets about your life, then tell him he can't tell me because I have a big mouth. He is obligated under marital contract to tell me EVERYTHING and I am obliglated under family contract to tell everyone else.
Love, Sara
Ahem:
You MAY NOT tell my husband secrets about your life, then tell him he can't tell me because I have a big mouth. He is obligated under marital contract to tell me EVERYTHING and I am obliglated under family contract to tell everyone else.
Love, Sara
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Happenings...
Lately my life consists of:
-Feeding Paige
-Trying to sleep when not feeding Paige
-Looking at my disaster of a house and thinking about how clean it will be when I get around to it.
-Feeding Paige
-Getting ready for Matt to leave again....trying not to have a mental breakdown over it.
-Feeding Paige
-Chatting on the phone with family (I really wish they were here)
-Feeding my kids cereal whenever they're hungry
-Feeding Paige
-Moving laundry from the basket, onto my bed (so I'll be forced to fold it), then back into the basket and back onto the floor (because I decide I'll fold it tomorrow).
-Moving laundry from the basket, onto my bed (so I'll be forced to fold it), then back into the basket and back onto the floor (because I decide I'll fold it tomorrow).
-Feeding Paige
That's about how it has been going. I do feel like I'm finally starting to come out my haze though... getting ready to embrace real life again. Real life with 3 kids.
Luckily they're 3 really cute kids. We all love Paige. The kids tell me all day long how cute she is. I agree with them. :)
However, I've never heard a baby grunt as often and as LOUD as Paige does. It makes sharing a room with her a little difficult.
And just so you know that I do still have other children...Chase's Halloween costume came today. I hope the costume is still in one piece by Halloween, I can't get it off of him! That's his strong guy face. You can BET this picture will be in a wedding video when he gets married. haha.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
The gory details.
I figured I should write up the whole birth story while it's still somewhat fresh in my mind. Maybe it's still TOO fresh, since I cringe when I think about it. Here we go:
On Tuesday, September 20th we rolled into the hospital at 8:30am to get going for an induction. The doctor decided that since Hallie was induced 3 weeks early (high blood pressure) and was 8 pounds and Chase was induced 2 weeks early (because they suspected he was big) and was 8 pounds 8 ounces, and with the ultra sound measurements indicating that Paige was also big, he would induce Paige 2 weeks early also. No biggie to me, since I was used to inductions. And lets be honest....two less weeks of being pregnant? YES PLEASE!
So I showed up for my "induction" which I learned means something very different to Germans than it does to Americans. Germans are VERY cautious, which I guess is a good thing. However, I did start getting frustrated when by the end of my first day in the hospital all they had done was to insert cervix softening gel (when I first got there in the morning) and tell me to "go walking" for pretty much the rest of the day. That night when the Dr. finally checked me, he told me that I had made no progress, to go to bed in my hospital room, and we'd try again the next day. Needless to say...this was a huge let down. I was ready (mentally) to have a baby THAT day. Not the next.
Day two: My Dr. starts out the day by checking me again and tells me that I have dialated to a 2 during the night. Those of you who have had babies know that a 2 is nothing to write home about. Dr. K tells me this must mean that the cervix softener is working and we're going to do it again today. YAY. So they put in the cervix softener again and once again tell me, "go walking!"
So I walk. I walk and I walk and I walk.
And I have really REALLY hard contractions all day long. I'm SURE something is happening.
5:00pm: The midwife checks me. Still dialated to a 2. That's about the time I start crying. How could all those hard contractions all day long equal NOTHING?! That's also about the time I ask the midwife why they keep using cervix softener if it keeps doing nothing? She tells me tomorrow morning (which would be day 3) they'll start me in the morning with petocin and try something a little more agressive. I'm contemplating trying to check out and go home and wait this pregnancy out. Matt is also frustrated. I tell him to go home and pack clothes for the kids for another day and nicely ask our friends to keep them for yet another night. He heads out.
I go back up to my room. Still pregnant, still having hard contractions, emotionally and physically exhausted. I call my Mom and cry because the contractions REALLY hurt and I don't know why I'm in so much pain for contractions that are doing NOTHING. I have to stop talking every 60 seconds because the contractions are so painful that all I can do is curl into a ball and shake and cry until they pass.
6:00pm: I finally call the nurse and tell her that I think I'm dying (through my sobbing tears) and I need something to help with the pain. She calls labor and delivery and they tell her to bring me back down. It's been an hour since I was there last.
The nurse tells me to go back to labor and delivery.
I tell her I can't walk.
She goes and gets a wheel chair and wheels me to the elevator and down two stories to labor and delivery.
The midwife checks me...again. This time her eyes get big and she tells me I'm almost fully dialated. In 1 hour. From a 2 to almost ready to push. I call Matt and tell him to get his butt back down to the hospital. The nurse tells me to lay on my side because we need to wait for the doctor. Even though I'm almost fully dialated my water hasn't broken yet and they want me to wait it out till the Dr. can get there. I honestly was ok with that since I also didn't have my husband there yet. I spend the next hour in the most horrible pain I have EVER been in in my LIFE.
side note: With Hallie and Chase I got an epidural before I ever even felt any contractions. So this was all a first for me.
I lay there and think I might prefer dying to this kind of pain. I pray through each contraction. I pray to my Father in Heaven to take the pain away from me. When I'm not praying I'm cursing quietly under my breath. Contradiction? Yes. You shouldn't pray and curse at the same time. It's offensive. :)
Matt rolls in and when he sees me his face is mixed with excitement and concern. He's just as anxious for me to have this baby as I am, but at this point I'm dripping in sweat and the stupid nurses keep covering my feet with blanket because they say they're "cold". I keep kicking them off. He pulls up a chair by me and holds my hand.
I feel like it also should be mentioned that I could easily be a Scientologist since I labor in total silence. I just wanted everyone to leave me alone and let me get through this, but the mid wife keeps telling me I need to be more "positive". I just keep ignoring her and pretending like she's not there. At some point she told me that I don't "trust' them (the nurses), and I need to trust them. I still can't figure out how she was making all these deductions from a girl suffering through labor in total silence with her head buried in her pillow. I told Matt when it was all over that I felt like I needed to apologize to them because by the way they were talking to me it was as if I was openly isulting them throughout my whole labor by my silence. Anways....
The Dr. finally makes it in, reaches inside of me, my water breaks ( more like my water explodes), and it's like I no longer have any control over my body. My body just starts pushing, one big, long, push. The Dr. tells to stop. Like I can stop. At that point it would have been like trying to stop a freight train. I give one more push and I feel my body ripping open, but I don't care because I know the end is here. Paige is out in 2 pushes and they bring her up and lay her on my chest. Matt has a video of the birth (PG version of course) and when Paige comes out I mutter under my breath "Hallelujah", and the Dr. and nurses start laughing. Of course, Paige was perfect and I fell in love instantly.
Matt fell in love even harder than I did, I think. Probably because he got to go and enjoy watching her be measure and weighed and cleaned up while I lay in bed being stitched back together for an HOUR. At some point Matt wandered down to where the Dr. was working, stitching me back up, and made a reference to the Bride of Frankenstein....bless his heart. Yeah, Paige did the most damage out of my 3 kids. Which is ironic since she was also my smallest baby so far. Don't you feel like you know more about me now than you ever wanted to know? haha.
I was in the hospital for 4 days after that (Germans keep you longer than they do in America) and I've got to say the recovery was really good. In the States the nurses wake you up all night long and won't leave you alone. Here in Germany, they only come in if you call them and to check your blood pressure and temperature once a day. They also have a bed in the room for your husband and bring you AND you husband meals 3 times a day. They also have a bidet in the bathroom which was a God send.
So there you have it....all the gory details. When Paige is a teenager and driving me crazy and fighting with me, I'm going to make her sit down and read this story. Then she'll feel bad for being such a bratty teen and resolve to treat her mother kindly for the rest of her life. Yup, I'm pretty sure that's how it'll happen.
On Tuesday, September 20th we rolled into the hospital at 8:30am to get going for an induction. The doctor decided that since Hallie was induced 3 weeks early (high blood pressure) and was 8 pounds and Chase was induced 2 weeks early (because they suspected he was big) and was 8 pounds 8 ounces, and with the ultra sound measurements indicating that Paige was also big, he would induce Paige 2 weeks early also. No biggie to me, since I was used to inductions. And lets be honest....two less weeks of being pregnant? YES PLEASE!
So I showed up for my "induction" which I learned means something very different to Germans than it does to Americans. Germans are VERY cautious, which I guess is a good thing. However, I did start getting frustrated when by the end of my first day in the hospital all they had done was to insert cervix softening gel (when I first got there in the morning) and tell me to "go walking" for pretty much the rest of the day. That night when the Dr. finally checked me, he told me that I had made no progress, to go to bed in my hospital room, and we'd try again the next day. Needless to say...this was a huge let down. I was ready (mentally) to have a baby THAT day. Not the next.
Day two: My Dr. starts out the day by checking me again and tells me that I have dialated to a 2 during the night. Those of you who have had babies know that a 2 is nothing to write home about. Dr. K tells me this must mean that the cervix softener is working and we're going to do it again today. YAY. So they put in the cervix softener again and once again tell me, "go walking!"
So I walk. I walk and I walk and I walk.
And I have really REALLY hard contractions all day long. I'm SURE something is happening.
5:00pm: The midwife checks me. Still dialated to a 2. That's about the time I start crying. How could all those hard contractions all day long equal NOTHING?! That's also about the time I ask the midwife why they keep using cervix softener if it keeps doing nothing? She tells me tomorrow morning (which would be day 3) they'll start me in the morning with petocin and try something a little more agressive. I'm contemplating trying to check out and go home and wait this pregnancy out. Matt is also frustrated. I tell him to go home and pack clothes for the kids for another day and nicely ask our friends to keep them for yet another night. He heads out.
I go back up to my room. Still pregnant, still having hard contractions, emotionally and physically exhausted. I call my Mom and cry because the contractions REALLY hurt and I don't know why I'm in so much pain for contractions that are doing NOTHING. I have to stop talking every 60 seconds because the contractions are so painful that all I can do is curl into a ball and shake and cry until they pass.
6:00pm: I finally call the nurse and tell her that I think I'm dying (through my sobbing tears) and I need something to help with the pain. She calls labor and delivery and they tell her to bring me back down. It's been an hour since I was there last.
The nurse tells me to go back to labor and delivery.
I tell her I can't walk.
She goes and gets a wheel chair and wheels me to the elevator and down two stories to labor and delivery.
The midwife checks me...again. This time her eyes get big and she tells me I'm almost fully dialated. In 1 hour. From a 2 to almost ready to push. I call Matt and tell him to get his butt back down to the hospital. The nurse tells me to lay on my side because we need to wait for the doctor. Even though I'm almost fully dialated my water hasn't broken yet and they want me to wait it out till the Dr. can get there. I honestly was ok with that since I also didn't have my husband there yet. I spend the next hour in the most horrible pain I have EVER been in in my LIFE.
side note: With Hallie and Chase I got an epidural before I ever even felt any contractions. So this was all a first for me.
I lay there and think I might prefer dying to this kind of pain. I pray through each contraction. I pray to my Father in Heaven to take the pain away from me. When I'm not praying I'm cursing quietly under my breath. Contradiction? Yes. You shouldn't pray and curse at the same time. It's offensive. :)
Matt rolls in and when he sees me his face is mixed with excitement and concern. He's just as anxious for me to have this baby as I am, but at this point I'm dripping in sweat and the stupid nurses keep covering my feet with blanket because they say they're "cold". I keep kicking them off. He pulls up a chair by me and holds my hand.
I feel like it also should be mentioned that I could easily be a Scientologist since I labor in total silence. I just wanted everyone to leave me alone and let me get through this, but the mid wife keeps telling me I need to be more "positive". I just keep ignoring her and pretending like she's not there. At some point she told me that I don't "trust' them (the nurses), and I need to trust them. I still can't figure out how she was making all these deductions from a girl suffering through labor in total silence with her head buried in her pillow. I told Matt when it was all over that I felt like I needed to apologize to them because by the way they were talking to me it was as if I was openly isulting them throughout my whole labor by my silence. Anways....
The Dr. finally makes it in, reaches inside of me, my water breaks ( more like my water explodes), and it's like I no longer have any control over my body. My body just starts pushing, one big, long, push. The Dr. tells to stop. Like I can stop. At that point it would have been like trying to stop a freight train. I give one more push and I feel my body ripping open, but I don't care because I know the end is here. Paige is out in 2 pushes and they bring her up and lay her on my chest. Matt has a video of the birth (PG version of course) and when Paige comes out I mutter under my breath "Hallelujah", and the Dr. and nurses start laughing. Of course, Paige was perfect and I fell in love instantly.
Matt fell in love even harder than I did, I think. Probably because he got to go and enjoy watching her be measure and weighed and cleaned up while I lay in bed being stitched back together for an HOUR. At some point Matt wandered down to where the Dr. was working, stitching me back up, and made a reference to the Bride of Frankenstein....bless his heart. Yeah, Paige did the most damage out of my 3 kids. Which is ironic since she was also my smallest baby so far. Don't you feel like you know more about me now than you ever wanted to know? haha.
I was in the hospital for 4 days after that (Germans keep you longer than they do in America) and I've got to say the recovery was really good. In the States the nurses wake you up all night long and won't leave you alone. Here in Germany, they only come in if you call them and to check your blood pressure and temperature once a day. They also have a bed in the room for your husband and bring you AND you husband meals 3 times a day. They also have a bidet in the bathroom which was a God send.
So there you have it....all the gory details. When Paige is a teenager and driving me crazy and fighting with me, I'm going to make her sit down and read this story. Then she'll feel bad for being such a bratty teen and resolve to treat her mother kindly for the rest of her life. Yup, I'm pretty sure that's how it'll happen.
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