Welcome Caitlyn!

           Well, we have officially welcomed Caitlyn into the world. We got to the hospital around 3 for the induction yesterday and got started. It went pretty slow until they broke my water, and then I went from a 4 to delivery in an hour. It's probably a good thing the water didn't break on it's own earlier. I always get so nervous when I come in. I hate needles, I hate getting the epidural even though it makes the labor so much better. So I always dread it. Probably because the last two deliveries I've had to have the epidural redone, which is never fun when you're in pain. But this time it went smooth, the best epidural I've ever gotten and I had the easiest delivery. I'm feeling amazing compared to the other births too. I haven't needed any pain medication since we delivered her and besides just being tired everything has gone sooo well. I definitely have so much to be grateful for.
           She was 7 lbs. 12 oz and 19 inches long. She's bigger than my other two girls were but she is smaller than Isaac was. She is a cutie with lots of dark hair. We are in love with her.
           The girls are as well, wanting to hold her, and fighting over who gets to hold her and for how long. I'm afraid I'm going to have two little over-helpful mommies at home.
           Isaac was pretty excited about seeing her as well, practically laid on her so he could get right up close. When we asked him where the baby was immediately patted her face, rather than mom's stomach. When Isaac was born when we asked Mirian where the baby was she would still pat mom's stomach.
           So life is good with us. We'll be going home tomorrow and resting while my mom is here to help out for a while. We are truly blessed to have this little one.

Tonight or Tomorrow....

           Caitlyn will be arriving! We're finally having contractions, nothing major, but if they don't send me in the hospital on my own tonight then tomorrow we have an induction scheduled! So hopefully you'll see some pictures or hear the word on here soon!

Waiting

           We are still waiting around for this baby to come, which is frustrating in a way since I feel like my life is on hold with so many things. I know I could still be working on them until she arrives, but I'm just so uncomfortable, tired and miserable it's hard to concentrate. After a long shower last night though, and getting the house all picked up and cleaned so that it felt ready for whom ever might be called on at last minute to come and watch our kids, I started feeling better. Plus our life has been off schedule forever and it's been wearing on me. So we decided to fix that this morning.
           Beau and I got up at 6:30 this morning, the first in a long time, since we've been getting to bed so late. I had time to cook some muffins and read some scriptures before we woke the kids up at 7:00 and announced to them we're going for a bike ride. So we loaded up the bikes, breakfast, and water and headed for the river trail.
           So we spent the morning walking (hoping to send me into labor - yeah right!) while the kids rode their bikes on the beautiful river trail this morning. We saw our little friend the snail and had a nice relaxing morning just getting out in some fresh air and sunshine to enjoy the morning.
           It was just what I needed, as I think everyone else in the family too. Some family time out of the house and some nature. We want to go for a walk every morning this summer and just enjoy getting out and being a little more active as a family. Plus it just gets things started in the right direction.

Counting down...

           Only two more days till the official due date of the baby. I'm at the antsy stage of wondering when it's going to happen and busily trying to get everything I possibly can get done before then out of the way. At the same time I only want to rest, do nothing, and feel calm and rested before the day arrives.
           Between trying to get everything done my kids decided to get sick on me. Isaac was sick with a fever of 104 for two days. All he wanted was mom to sit in the rocking chair and hold him. He was miserable. So it was a nice and stressful two days, because he rarely wants me to sit and hold him anymore, and I know with the new baby coming along, times like this would be far in between, so I took advantage of cuddling him again since he's no longer a baby. It was also stressful because I felt all these things heaping up that HAD to be done, and he was not letting me do them. We survived, only to have Savannah catch something next. She has spent the last two days laying around and throwing up. Needless to say I AM SO THANKFUL for carpet cleaners. We invested in one a year ago and it has been the BEST investment we have ever made. I've had to use it 4 times in the last 24 hours on the couch.

           So needless to say I'm tired, and praying that I don't catch this flu bug. Labor is bad enough without the flu on top of it! :) Today I just needed to relax so we scrapped a bunch of 4x6 layouts. It was such a nice break, and the kids had fun helping me pick the colors and things to put on it. Here's one from last weekend at the reunion. Savannah was so upset about this layout. She has been learning how to sound out words and start reading. She kept telling me she didn't like his name. She wanted me to take it off and spell it with an F. Fillip.:) I explained to her about how putting the P and H sound together make the same sound as the F. She accepted the answer but it still bothers her, and she mentions it every time she sees this layout.

Home Sweet Home

Nothing Fancy
           Well here's a quick view of the outside of our new place, (before we mowed the lawn and started cleaning it up a bit.) If you were imagining something big and grand you'll be disappointed. It's just a old tiny house, but it meets our needs, and is exactly what we were looking for when we thought of a starter home. It's taken some time to get a few things unpacked (it'll probably take us all year) But it's feeling more like home every day.
Not For Cars
           Beau got a garage, where he could now put all his wood working and shop tools. Garages weren't meant to actually store cars right?! Plus it's a place for more storage. Off to the side of the garage is a room that's built on that is going to become the office. It needs some minor repairs and some carpet laid, and then we'll get to enjoy a separate office, were kids have limited access, and where work can actually happen without interruptions! It also leaves Isaac his own room for once. Lucky guy!
Green Thumb
           I've been dying to have my own garden spot and have been itching to get it started now that we've officially moved over. It's been overcast, rainy and cold for the last couple of weeks it seems. It might be too late to get one in at this point, but it's still cold so we're hoping that we'll get be able to harvest at least something out of it. Beau got it all ready today, now we just need to get some extra soil and put in the plants on Monday! I can't wait to get my hands dirty!
           Savannah got a hold of the camera and snapped this photo of the flag on our front porch. We've had it almost 6 years now and never a place to hang it. We got it for a wedding present, so when Beau found it while unpacking he took advantage of the poles on the porch.
Another Artist
           I came in from outside were we where all working to find this little boy. Savannah had left her paints out from earlier. He waddled inside, found them all ready to go and though he'd take a stab at it. He actually knew what he was doing. Dipped his brush in the water, then the paints and then painted on the paper. But once he started putting the brush in his mouth mom had to call the fun over.

Another Day

Growing Up
           Isaac is growing up and wanting to do what we do. He especially wants to be like his dad. He follows him around copying everything that he does. Now that we have moved into the category of home owners, we are now also included in the part of home repairman. Since we've moved in Beau has been fixing little things, setting things up and has his little partner following him around, carrying tools and trying to help.
           He is definitely like his dad in interests. If he can put it together, fix it, or plug it in he is all over it. If a ball is involved he wants in on the action, he is such a boy and so much different than my girls who are all over dressing up and changing outfits 5 times a day. He is a breath of fresh air.You've Come a Long Way
           Savannah finished her season of dance class, and we have pictures, stories and videos to show off later. She has come a long way this year on overcoming her shyness. She still has a long way to go, but I'm proud of her for her improvement, she did a great job there at the end.
           I still can't find my cable to download all our recent picture from my camera! It's driving me nuts, since I want to become a little more active on this blog than I have the last little while. Plus soon Caitlyn (our newest one) will be joining us in a few weeks, and that camera needs to be emptied for all those great shots.
Today
           Today we got our washer / dryer hooked up and working. After a year of a dryer that took 3 rounds to dry, my handyman husband ripped the whole thing apart today, cleaned out all the vents, and now has me a dryer that dries in one load! Happiest Day of my life. I got 3 - 55 gallon bins emptied and put away, slowly the unpacking will end. Mirian had a fever in the 100's all day, poor girl. All she could do was lay around, sleep and ask mom to just sit by her. Hopefully she'll having a better day tomorrow.
           Savannah was with me in the kitchen emptying boxes, and cleaning. Isaac and Mirian were taking naps while dad was working. She proudly told me that we were having a "mother-daughter date" because everyone else was gone and it was just me and her. I agreed and also hope to take her out to do something a little more fun than unpacking boxes. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more empty boxes and a camera cable.

Back Online

           Well we are officially set back up with the internet and online, although you still might not be hearing from me really regularly as we still have tons of things to unpack and get ready so that we are all settled in before the baby is born. I've got some photos to post, but as luck would have it somewhere in some box is my cord to download them off my camera! Ahhh, who knows when it will come out of hiding! We are doing well well though and will catch you up on details later!