Laila and her Hats

A favorite pastime of Laila's, hats on and off, of all shapes and sizes. And I swear she actually said the word Hat, once.

I forgot to mention...

Life with four means you take up almost an entire pew at church, there are not enough chairs in a doctors waiting room, you have to know where several primary classes meet, AND I totally have four rolls of fat... one from each kid I'm sure.

By the way, I've totally added the you know whats on the side of this blog, my friend Brandi is rocking the ad revenue... she is a much better writer, with a much bigger following, but hey... maybe I could earn enough to pay someone to buy my house after all. Click if you want, or not!

Well Charlotte is wailing upstairs and my Chocolate Chip cookies are almost out of the oven, so I'm going to go rock, eat, rock, eat, rock... until we're both asleep.

A reason to jump for joy!!

A High Temp of 71.

SAWEET - I'm out of here, have a great day.

Charlotte won't sleep.

Which means I'm awake... I've been awake since 3 a.m. when she got up this morning. And after the puking from Laila, the dr. appt., and the news about the house, I'm just exhausted. Physically and emotionally. Josh is working. we have no cable.

If you're contemplating more children, DON'T DO IT!!

I suggest sleeping on it. Because after the baby is on the way, you can't sleep on anything.

Verbal Offer.

We got an offer.

It's 20% below our asking price, making it a full 30,000 dollars less than we need.

We didn't take it.

Laila threw up twice before 9 a.m. this morning, I think I might join her.

BTW, does anyone have any binoculars, or a magnifying glass. I'm having trouble seeing the joy in my journey today.

UPDATE: a super great friend sent me the cutest little things for my little Charlotte. It definitely brought me at least a smile on this cloudy day.

How's that change and hope working out for you??

Just wondering.

SECOND SHOWING>>>>

Today at 6 p.m.

If you've never bought or sold a house you do not know what this means.

It is a HUGE deal. It means that someone was sort of impressed the first time they saw the house that they thought they should check it out, a SECOND time. It means that someone didn't come to see it JUST because they were curious... It usually also means they NEED to buy a house.

All things good, with a second showing.

Now, if only I could NOT get my hopes up... Come what may, and love it.

But if you're so inclined today, would you mind "Saying a little Prayer, for me?"

Thanks, YOU are a gem.

AngelFood Ministries

My friend Lori recommended this program to me a while back... we were moving and too busy to look into it. Well, I'm slowly getting more time, and well more broke, Thank You Obama..., o.k. so it is not ALL his fault, anyway, it's a great program, you do not have to meet an income requirement or be a part of any church.

I sent an email to a few people that I thought might be interested. If you want more info let me know!

Life with Four:

1. There's ALWAYS someone awake.
2. There's ALWAYS someone to feed.
3. Someone's laughing or crying ALWAYS.
4. I spend WAY TOO MUCH on things related to pee and pooh... Diapers, Wipes, Toilet Paper, and lysol.
5. I spend WAY TOO MUCH on food and drink that turns to pee and pooh.
6. No one else can ride in the van, and I'm thinking about putting on the side of it, Lucy's Day Care. Could I then get a tax write off for using it for a "business purpose"?
7. Please can someone ask me ONE MORE TIME... Are these all yours????
8. Blogging, emailing and phone calls, are few and far between.

I love it. My van prophecy was fulfilled. Long Story...no time, I've got four kiddos.

THE BIG FIVE. {and 300}

Miss Hallie is FIVE today. She is quite the girly girl, although she can take her brother, easily. She is starting ballet and tap this week, her birthday gift. OUCH to the wallet... who knew dance classes were so much? Bummer, she was afraid of the beam! We've collected all the bits and pieces of the money sent to us, and bought her gear, and her classes. I think she's going to love it! And I love it even more that we added ZERO toys this birthday. Hallie is such a great helper with Laila, she's more responsible than even Colson on this one. She L.O.V.E.S. holding Charlotte, and does her best to be the second "mom" to the little girls. Having multiple children gives you such insight to birth order... wishing her a happy day!

Side Note: THIS POST MARKS 300 POSTS, WOWSERS!!

We've been busy, have you?

Great Grandparents came to visit. No, Sonia, NOT twins, the baby boy is my nephew. Nice Try, you still owe me $100 bucks.



We celebrated two birthdays.



The Key Lime Pies were fantastic. Megan, I made this recipe, except I needed mini pies, so I just pressed the graham cracker crust into the bottoms of cupcake holders in the pan, baked them, and scooped the filling on top of the crust, and froze.



Colson followed the Savior's Example.




Charlotte Rose was blessed to be happy and helpful. Typical family photo. Hey Becca, could you cut 20 lbs from me, correct Hallie's face, by removing hands, etc... and also Colson needs a smile. Oh yeah, Laila is crying could you take those tears away, too. One more thing, Josh is NOT choking Laila, so could you remove that hand, too. Thanks.

Needless to say, I'm hoping for a calmer March, with A LOT more sleep.

The Big EIGHT.

Colson, the opposite of the caboose. The first born, the only son.

Spent his birthday at the Doctor's office, been home sick for FOUR days, with what? A cold was the diagnosis. I mean seriously? A fever for FOUR days?????? He's back to school tomorrow. He's taking in 20 key lime miniature pies for his class. Limes are his favorite food. And since I delivered a baby TWO WEEKS ago, and wanted to win the mother of the year award, I made them.

Happy Birthday Kiddo, to my favorite son.

The Moment You've Been Waiting For...

The Caboose Hours before she arrived:



The day after she was born, no I'm not going to do full on make up at the hospital, GET REAL!




One Week Later:

The Caboose's Arrival.

The Birth Story - Mainly for me, it's long, so no need to read! I just wanted to write it while I remembered most of it. I promise pictures are in the works...

Four. That was the most for me. I knew after the first one, I would not fulfill my childhood dream of having EIGHT children, just like my dearest friends the Zinn's, who practically raised me, and kept me out of trouble. I loved their crazy busy family, and their fun stories. Even the ones that weren't so fun like when they told poor Marnie she was adopted and created a pretend adoption certificate and taped it in her baby book. Nope, after that first round of childbirth, eight was NOT going to happen.



Slowly but surely we added each precious soul to our family. We planned, protected, and conceived pretty much when we wanted to. I know, a blessing in and of itself.



And then there was a trip to Utah. My nonchalant ways caught up with me this time. My cocky attitude toward all those women (including my sister) who tell me, it was a surprise, or I was using protection, was slammed into my face. I mean how do "ACCIDENTS" happen? Well I know how they happen. They just do. And the Caboose was on its way.



The pregnancy, although not perfect, I was puking, and the placenta was in the wrong place at first, went fairly well. The stress of our lives during this pregnancy was extraordinary. I was barely hanging on. I tried to endure, to think positive, to remember those who long for babies and can't have them, but for the life of me, I was not looking forward to the Caboose. I felt guilty and yucky and like a terrible mother for the feelings I was having. I knew I wanted another baby, but right NOW?????? I. DID. NOT.



However, there was no stopping this train, it was in motion, and the nine months had begun. We went through all the yucky stuff, and finally had decided to move to Charlottesville. The job was promising, and the town was nice. (I had only been here once) We planned the move on the Army's dollar, not particularly the best of timetables, but we already knew that. We found temporary shelter, and amidst all this 'planning' I told Josh, if we have a girl (which almost the entire pregnancy is what I thought I was having) we should name her Charlotte.



At 38 weeks, we pull up to my town home, the first I'd seen it. Nice Enough, time to settle in, temporarily. With Aunt Suzanne in tow, and 3 kiddos, we unpack the necessities, leave the rest, clean and scrub bathrooms, floors, carpets, etc. Set up home for the imminent arrival of the Caboose. There were a few false alarms, consistently irregular contractions, a trip to the O.B., a drive by the hospital, a hike, some house hunting, and definitely some penny pinching as the double doozy of a rent and a mortgage hits the checkbook. All while we waited for the Caboose.



I awoke February 10th to some painful contractions around 4:30 a.m. These were not unfamiliar as I've had several the previous days, but I kinda had a feeling about these... Josh came home from work around 6:20 a.m. and I said I would take care of Colson, you just hop into bed. (I did not mention the contractions) I KNEW if today was the day, he needed sleep. I got up showered, and went about my day. All day long I had sporadic contractions of various intensities. They were driving me CRAZY! I couldn't tell if they were for real. I told Suzanne, I think it might be today, but I was going to wait to tell Josh. He had a meeting at 5 p.m. that he couldn't miss. I had to make it until then.



I took Suzanne to Lowe's and then Whole Foods. We came home, had dinner, and sent Josh off to work. I finally mentioned I thought I was in labor. Before he left, I had him give me a blessing. It was amazing. He blessed me with peace, and strength, and he said "as we complete our family..." and from this point on I am not sure what he said. I felt like my sacrifice of bearing four children would be acceptable to the Lord. That our family was on it's way. That each spirit that was meant to be with us, had come. It was beautiful, spiritual, and uniting in a way that I can't describe.



Off he went to work, as I lingered at home "waiting" for something, anything to happen. I called family and warned them, and while talking to my sister had a serious contraction that said, time to go. I called Josh at work, and discovered he was already on his way home. This was about 7:30 p.m. We ended up arriving to the hospital around 9 p.m. I was only at a 4, and it felt like I had a LONG way to go after an entire day of contractions. I was exhausted and petrified, to be sure. Laila's birth was not FAR from my mind, and with only a tylenol to dull the pain, it was NOT FUN. I literally was shaking, I was so nervous. I knew I didn't want an epidural, but I also knew I didn't want to push a baby out. How was that going to work???



They suggested I get in the whirlpool tub. OH MY WONDERFUL. DUH. Why do they not have these in EVERY birthing room in America?? Josh leaned over when I was in, and said you finally got your tub. So true. I was in that tub from 10:30 p.m. till about 12:30 a.m. Josh said to me during this tub time, this is your last chance what do you think we're having, I said a boy. "Yeah, me too." was his response... When I finally got out, I was a whopping 6 cm. I was exhausted, and could NOT believe how little progress I had made. But, the tub had calmed my nerves. In my head, during contractions I would say; Come what may and Love it, with a slight smile on my face. It's true. It was purely psychological, but I had to smile through the contraction. It became my ritual. After the news of the not so far along cervix, the nurse began to tell me about a medication, that would help me relax between contractions. I kept thinking about it, and finally said yeah I think I want it. She put in an I.V. and administered some miracle drug, I felt almost right away. It just relaxed me. I still felt the contractions but was able to calm down between them. I told Josh to climb into bed with me and I laid on my right side, and he just held me, close and tight. For 45 minutes. I thought about the last time I would experience birth. I told him I loved him, and that he was the love of my life. In 9 years, I have never felt more intimate, than the quiet minutes we laid on the hospital bed, as every so often I would have a contraction. Here we were husband and wife, together for the miracle of birth, for the last time. We both knew it.



Soon, my water broke, I immediately had him call the nurse in, she checked me, I was at a 9, when the next contraction hit, she wanted to see how far down the baby came. Apparently it was close, and called in the doctor. THE VERY NEXT CONTRACTION sent the baby through the birth canal. With no break, a second contraction came, and out she came. I can remember Josh's words during the birth: "You're doing great. I can see the head, oh, it's out!" I delivered laying on my right side, they tried to get me to turn over, but I had no time, the bed was still up, and there was NO ONE FOR THE BABY in the room. Just my nurse and the doctor. She came out like a rocket, the nurse said, it took "a half a push". Poor Linda (my nurse) and the doctor had their hands full! I have to say, I DID NOT SWEAR!! Yeah for me. I screamed like a wild animal, and made sounds no woman or man should ever hear, but kept my language in check.



The nurse said, what is it??? The doctor asked, well dad what is it?? And I hear Josh say, IT'S A GIRL. My caboose, Charlotte, had arrived. I held her, and cried, sobbed actually. The nurse came over and was patting my shoulder, as I cried, "This is our last baby".



The other nurses finally arrived to take care of baby, and no one knew what time she was born. They had to go and look at my contraction sheet to find the time of birth. I guess the nurse and the doctor were too busy to check their watches. It was shockingly quick.



I feel so blessed to have four healthy children. I feel a love for Josh like never before. Just like he said in my blessing: Our family is complete. Heavenly Father has blessed us four times over. We owe Him, our very best, as He has given us His.

We're Home.

Charlotte and I just arrived home around lunch time, I'm off to take a nap. Thanks to you all for your sweet congrats. We're both doing great, and I'm looking forward to sharing the details including Photos - which might take awhile, as we can't find the cord to link the camera to the computer... the hazards of a move. We finally decided on a middle name - Charlotte Rose.

Thanks again, and an update shortly!

BTW - You know you have too many kids when....

it takes you 30 minutes to set up dentist appts, which they can't do all in the same day.

ANNOUNCING....

No, this is not Lucy blogging from the Hospital!
Her awesome little sister Becca here, to proudly announce that
Charlotte Heath was born at 1:36AM today, February 11th, 2009.
Sweet Charlotte weighs a total 7lbs 4oz.
Mom and baby are doing well.
Updates to come when the tired momma can get to it.

Congratulations Josh and Lucy and family!!!

No Baby, yet...

Still prego. and getting crabbier by the second.

My baby for not so long.

The imminent arrival of a baby is at hand. I am sure by the 28th of Feb. I will have baby number four. I've introduced a new baby to two siblings now, and both times, they were full grown kiddos, with super hero or princess underpants. This time my baby gets to meet my baby. So weird. I soon get to pack a diaper bag with TWO diaper sizes. Weird. Laila is what you might call a slow walker, so I get to CARRY two babies. Weird. I've arranged the kids rooms to accommodate TWO cribs. Double weird.

Welcome to the Ward.

Sunday - Day 1 - Sister introduces herself in the coat hallway, as i'm taking off my coat, yes that quickly. One sister hands me her name and phone number on a card, call anytime, she says. Meet several members.

Still Day 1 - Name added to the email list, received February Newsletter, and Sunday's Bulletin in an email.

Still Day 1 - Sister calls and asks if my kids can come play at her house this week, schedules align, make plans.

Day 2 - Drop off kiddos, while movers are unloading, go to pick up, offered dinner and FHE, Josh has to work can't do it, She sends me home with a frozen soup, and a loaf of fresh homemade bread. Seriously.

R.S. President calls to come visit.

AMAZING... Did I mention there are 220 sisters on their R.S. list? Oh, I'm already on the list that was given to me on Monday.

A little intimidating at how together this ward has it!! :) But I would be wrong to not mention the wonderful ladies from my last ward, who stepped it up and helped clean my house on the Friday before I left. A huge help! Thanks so much!

We made it.

We're in VA, our stuff arrives today... I meet my OB today, and our townhome is fine. It's wierd moving into a place I've never seen before! The bathrooms need updating BAD. But the space is going to work. And it's only for four months. I've had contractions on and off but nothing too regular. Josh is back at work. Soon I just know Normalcy will begin. Ha ha. My ward is HUMONGOUS. But I love it already. There's 3 nurseries, 13 kids in Hallie's class alone, and we're in a brand new stake center, that is beautiful. I think we're going to like it here.

by the way, I would like to thank my family and friends that participated in our fast this past weekend. We continue to hope and pray that our home will sell.

Till next time!