Home Remedy

So, I was finally going to post some recent pics and lo and behold I can't find our camera. There are a lot of people around here, so hopefully someone will know where it is. Until then, I've decided to post little home remedies, in lieu of "mothering naturally". Most of them will probably be as I use them, so I'll let you know how they work! The first remedy is inspired by the "creative nature" of my two older boys. They found permanent markers the other day and thought it would be a great idea to color all over my mothers antique trunk in the family room...luckily, a few days previous, my mother was telling a story of when I got a hold of a permanent marker and colored all over a wall right before we were moving...and so I simply used the same remover she said worked when I was 2...

Remedy #1:
Hair Spray! Spray the hair spray(any brand should work) on the marker and rub off with a slightly damp cloth. You may still have to do some rubbing, but I was able to get it all off. Pfew!
Be aware that if you are cleaning it off a wall, it will start running, so you'll want something to protect the floor, especially if there is carpet!

A Done Deal!

Well, It happened!!!
All the documents are signed and we will have officially sold our house!
Now, to be totally honest, there are a number of mixed feelings involved here.
Excitement-because our house sold and we can move forward!
Thankfulness-that in the current housing market our house sold at all!
Nostalgia-it was our very first home and it was so nice taking ownership in it and truly making it our own. We really loved that house!
Jealousy-that the new owners get to live in OUR house and enjoy our yard and patio that Kiely spent hours working on along with all the other little improvements...built-in microwave, custom closets, pull down ladder and light in attic, fence in the front yard....and many other things. Aahhhh!
However, on the brighter side we will have absolutely NO Debt whatsoever. So, in Kiely's words "Our entire economy could come crashing down, and it wouldn't effect us a bit!" Yes, a bit melodramatic, I know! : ) We are pretty excited about it though! We've taken and are now facilitating a Financial series called Financial Peace University. It's completely altered our views on managing our money and have given us a few new goals...and some adequate motivation for doing so. "Live like no-one else, so LATER, you can live like no-one else."
To be honest, it's a bit challenging to choose to "live like no-one else" (i.e. no car payments, no credit cards, no debt) Which usually means living in a smaller house than most people our age, driving older cars than our friends and having to explain to people "Why?" on this great green earth we don't borrow money?" What a concept!

All in all though, we are excited to be moving on and may have found the perfect little rental for our "live like no-one else." motto. I'll keep you updated once we know for sure. And hopefully get organized enough that I can post some pictures of our life these days (i.e. our three adorable boys). Until then, many blessings.

A Blessing Indeed

Well, we are absolutely loving our new little addition. He has been completely wonderful, and I am totally spoiled. He is still sleeping great at night. He only wakes up once to eat and then goes right back to sleep. He isn't the least bit fussy, unless he's hungry, and that has a very easy solution. His older brothers love him and Justus is always relaying what Benjamin "needs".
"Ben-a-min wants more milk mom." is the most prevalant one, and on occasion he'll tell me "He needs a clean diaper, he has poops!" Oh, I love it!

The other wonderful news is that our house is set to close on the 28th this month! Hallelujah! We are looking at a few different housing options here, but the important part is that we are actually going to have our own place...with our own furniture and dishes and groceries and all those little things that set our home apart from any other place. Tomorrow we're heading to Portland to pack up our furniture and bring it here. It will be sad to say goodbye to our first house. All sorts of good memories happened there and after all the hours and countless weekends Kiely spent on our backyard and patio...we didn't get to use it even once!!! Ahhh, well, life goes on.

So, with all that said, I should probably get some sleep so I have brain power to get stuff done tomorrow! : ) Ta-ta.

The Story!

Benjamin Lawrence

This labor was, once again, totally different than both my previous ones. I started having contractions on Saturday. They were consistent and strong, but very spaced out...which is somewhat similar to how Gabriel's labor progressed. Except that my bag of waters broke first with Gabriel. So, I just went about a pretty normal day...all the while thinking it was possible we could be having our baby that evening. However, once evening came, they had spaced out more and by the time I went to bed they had faded off. I woke up maybe 3 times with a strong contraction, thinking maybe they would keep going, but eventually I woke up around 7...still pregnant!!!

Shortly after I woke up on Sunday, I noticed they had picked up again at 10 minutes a part and still fairly strong. I still didn't want to get too excited, but new at least SOMETHING was happening : )

So, our little family stayed home and relaxed. It was a beautiful day so we took the boys for a walk, as well as hoping to help my labor progress.

After our walk, we had Grandma Bondurant come pick up the boys to go play and keep them occupied for the rest of the day so Kiely and I could run some errands and get ready for the birth. Not knowing what my body would do we rented a few movies to help pass time and bought an exercise ball for me to sit on during contractions.

Then, once again, my contractions let up a bit, so I took a midday nap. Not wanting to just sit around, we went for another walk while my contractions picked up again and then opted to go have dinner at his parents house where the boys were.

In the mean time, we had received an offer on our house and were negotiating a counter offer-They wanted our washer and dryer...and I'll admit, I'm a little attached to them : )

So, while we were at Kiely's parents, trying to print and fax and email all the offer papers, I started feeling more and more like settling into my own space and focusing on what my body was doing. We waited for our offer to be sent and headed back home around 7:30. Expecting a somewhat quiet atmosphere upon returning home, I was a little shocked to find a completely full house and plenty of activity going on (We are still living with my parents) Not necessarily my ideal for having a baby...but the house is big enough so I opted to spend some alone time in my parents jacuzzi while Kiely caught up with my dad on the soccer game he missed and my brothers and nephews ran through the house... : ) Never a dull moment.

After getting into the jacuzzi I timed my contractions between 7-8 minutes apart, but to my dismay they seemed to be getting weaker. At this point I really had no idea what was going on and if I might be in labor again the next day.

However, my brothers fiance', who was planning on being at the birth was getting back from a trip that evening, so I figured maybe that's what we were waiting for...and evidently we were!

Probably only 45 minutes after she got to our house the gears changed. We were talking casually and watching a movie, while my contractions were getting closer, but still quite a bit weaker than most of the day and all of a sudden a felt a "pop" and my water broke. Only my forewaters leaked, so it wasn't a giant gush, but enough for me to know what happend. So, I went to the bathroom to rinse off and instantly felt a need to go lay down and start focusing. Feeling like I was getting a bit panicky I asked Kiely to pray...and was able to calm down and focus for maybe the next two contractions...then, I had probably the biggest "transition" contraction I've ever had. It peaked and stayed for what seemed like a number of minutes. By this time, I had already asked them to go get my mom, and even though she had been in the room for probably 5 minutes, she knew exactly what was going on.

So, in a need to do SOMETHING I got off the bed to try a different position, hoping I would be more comfortable, and with the next contraction, felt the baby moving down the birth canal. Now my mom prefers to deliver babies on the bed, so her and Kiely were trying to set it up for me to get back there once I told them the baby was coming. But realizing I wasn't going anywhere, I decided to feel for the babies head since I KNEW it was too late to move. And sure enough it was right there and just about fully crowned! SWEET RELIEF!

Evidently, I was keeping this information to myself since they were still trying to set up the bed for me and when I announced "There it is!" my mom asked, "Uh! There WHAT is?!"

"The head!-Of course" (lol) So, with the next contraction, the rest of his head came out and with one more-he was completely born!!! Our third boy!

The rest was completely wonderful and a great relief to have accomplished the task! He nursed great. Is still nursing great. Breathed fine...and so far, has slept wonderfully at night. I just keep smiling everytime I think about our three little men. Such an adventure we are on...and I have a feeling it's going to be one of the greatest adventures of our lives!!!

Right after our "20 minute delivery"

I'll admit, the best feeling is when it's over and you have a beautiful and healthy baby.

I love natural childbirth!!!

Aunti Anya holding little Benjamin

(this was her first birth experience-and she loved it!)

My little men singing "Happy Birthday" to there little brother,

While anxiously awaiting the Red Raspberry Ice-cream Cake

with Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust and

Whipped Cream Topping

(We like to treat ourselves after giving birth : )

And it was a wonderful treat!

Sunny days!

Yes, I'm still pregnant!!!
However, we have been immensely blessed this last week with some wonderfully sunny days...and in Astoria, that means we take full advantage of it!

So, we took a family trip to the river walk in downtown, captured an amazing sunrise, and just had some plain old fashioned fun. All good activities to get my mind off our "delayed" arrival : )

These other pictures are of Justus "helping" cut his hair...with my permission.



Yes, the buzzers are on, but no worries with the guard on?! Except that when I came back from getting the camera, he didn't have the buzzers anymore, he had these!!!

Thank goodness they didn't actually make it to his hair...not that there was evidence of anyway. Pfew!
We also had a good visit from my sister Maria and her two kids. James is 7mths older than Justus and Abigail is 5wks younger than Gabriel so they are a good match for play! Once again, another good activity to help pass the time! Now I'm thinking I might get out our stockings I didn't finish for Christmas and try to get those done....Just about anything to keep me busy! : )
Honestly!

Just a few Thoughts

So, considering the fact that I am expecting a baby any day and since I just received my registration for my Childbirth Educator Certification. I've been thinking about labor quite a bit lately and thought I would throw out a few questions just to keep us all entertained in the mean time. : ) I hope you're game?
p.s. Most of the questions are pertaining to your first labor if you've had more than one.

Question 1:
How was labor different than what you expected?

Question 2:
Is there something you weren't taught in your childbirth classes that later you wish you had known.

Question 3:
Did you feel like your classes adequately prepared you for birth? How so or not?

Question 4:
How much would you be willing to pay for Natural Childbirth Classes?

Question 5:
Would you say that overall your birth was an enjoyable experience or something that you'd really rather not go through again?

Be honest! There certainly isn't a right answer. After Justus was born I was a little shocked that many women gave birth more than once, and even though we had a great birth with little to no complications, it was different than how I'd envisioned and I was a little discouraged. Then Gabriel came along and it was a different story altogether. He came quickly and smoothly and by the time it was over I felt like we'd barely gotten started. I remember thinking, "Now, THAT, I can do again!" Very different!

So please share your experiences and your thoughts. I am totally excited to finally be able to teach childbirth classes and I want to make sure they are relevant and practical to all different couples. Can't wait for your responses!

All in Time...

So, I know everyone is curious to see if the baby is here or not.
But not quite yet!
This is the first time I have passed my due-date (though, it was a guess anyway)!
It hasn't been nearly as traumatic as I expected. And to be totally honest, according to my intuition, I wouldn't be suprised if we have another week or so.
Besides my enormous, and somewhat comical belly, I feel great and have been sleeping quite well...so we'll see what happens.
I will certainly post once the baby arrives! No worries, I won't leave any of you out of the loop!

But in the mean time, it is sunny and beautiful here and we are going to get out and enjoy some fresh air!

Blessings