Recap of October

We had a whirlwind of a month and I didn't post a single thing.  I have photos galore to share so I will break them into a few posts.  Just a few highlights of the craziness:

• 6 Baseball games  - I didn't realize how time consuming having a child on a sports team can be. There was many nights we didn't get home till almost 10pm. 
• Girl Scout Camping Trip - This was her 3rd trip up to Julian with the Girl Scouts, but it was my first year. We had a blast at the Apple Days Festival and brought home a dutch apple pie and two bags of freshly picked apples.
• Impromptu San Diego Zoo Trip - We had to drop off the big kids in San Diego on a Saturday morning, so we made a day of it and went to the zoo.  The little guy was a trooper and did a lot of walking on those hills.
• 5th Annual Boo Bash - The set up and prep for this party takes about 2 weeks.  The last few hours always seem to go the fastest. The kids all have a blast and that makes it all worth it.

oh, and we bought a HOUSE!! We closed on the 23rd, two weeks early. It is now a whirlwind of ripping out carpets, hiring painters and putting down new floors before we move in.

My Major League Son

Dear Anthony,

Anthony, this is my first letter to you, yet you are my oldest. You have always and will always have a special place in my heart. I do hope that you enjoy these letters along with your brother and sister.  Right now you are 11 years old and just started the 6th grade. Your favorite baseball team is The Angels and your favorite football team is The Steelers.

This year you asked to play baseball. We had tried playing t-ball years ago, but you didn’t seem to have the passion for it.  We never signed up for a second season.  You have played various sports during the summer with your Dad.  Now you are getting closer to the age where there are school sports you will be eligible to play.  I decided to give baseball another try and let you sign up with certain expectations, (Doing homework, keeping grades up, going to practice without complaining).  You practiced with your Dad, Bill and at your Grandparents before try outs.  Then we got the call that you were recruited by the White Sox!

We didn’t anticipate getting so many monsoons this month.  I think it has rained more this month than it did all of last year. You had numerous practices cancelled for rain and the first two games got cancelled as well.  You finally got to play your first game last Wednesday.  You played a great game, even if your team didn’t win.  You even got a hit on your first time up to bat!  I have a feeling this is going to be a great season.  I know that you are playing with all your heart and that is what matters to me.

Love,

Mom

Please continue to Anna Bein and read the rest of the letters in the blog circle

My Politician

Dear Ellie,
This  month’s letter really snuck up on me.  There is so much I want to say to you, but this month I have to share this story.
You are in 4th grade, and considered an Upper Classman at school now.  The Upper Classman are eligible to run for Student Council. Each class votes and sends 3 student council representatives. To run you have to write and give an election speech.  You decided that you wanted to run and sat in your room writing your speech.  You even practiced giving your speech.  The next part is the best part of the story.
You tried to figure out how to afford buying brownies at school for all of your classmates so they would vote for you.  Instead I told you that you needed to come up with a slogan if you wanted to give treats to the class.  After looking online and on Pinterest, we came up with the idea: “Vote for Ellie. She is one smart cookie” and you took cookies to your class.
I am so proud to say that you came home Wednesday as one of your class representatives! You are excited that you get to attend Student Council meetings, help plan school activities and best of all … get a special Student Council shirt. 

Changes coming soon

This months theme for Life+Lens is Changes. We as a family have lots of changes on the horizon both big and small. I just don’t have pictures of them yet. 
In other parts of the country the seasons are changing, leaves are turning colors and the weather is cooler.  In Arizona that doesn’t happen for a while. The change in our season right now is monsoons. The heat remains, the humidity moves in and then the weather suddenly changes and the skies open up.

continue on the blog circle to see the rest of this months “changes” at Laura James Blog

Happy 2nd Birthday

Dear Braxton

We just celebrated your 2nd birthday in June. I knew that time would fly by and that your days of being a baby would be fleeting.  I thought for sure that with you I would take better photos, and document more.  Reality is that with three children I have even less time to do all those things.  I am excited to start writing these letters to you once a month.

You are becoming a “big boy” more and more each day. Your vocabulary is starting to explode. Everyday you say a new word or phrase.  In between the words we do understand you use lots of gibberish that we can not decipher, but you seem to know what you are saying. We have been calling you a parrot and a “monkey see monkey do.”  That is one reason why we decided on having a money themed birthday party for you.  We celebrated your birthday at the local water park, because your other favorite thing to do is play in water.  All day at the office you are in the back playing with your new water table and the hose.

You had your first real trips to the beach this summer.  For Father’s Day we went to Belmont Park in San Diego and Daddy took you out onto Mission Beach.

Then in July we joined your grandparents and your cousins at the beach house in Oxnard for a end of summer vacation.  The water was very cold so you didn’t really go in the water, You did enjoy playing in the sand with the shovels.

  

You love your big brother and sister and missed them while they were gone this summer.  Since they have been home you enjoy following them around and playing. Your favorite game to play with them is throwing balls – footballs, baseballs, bouncy balls – it really doesn’t make a difference.

The last change this summer has been moving from your crib in our room, to a toddler bed in the room with your big brother.  Most nights it seems to work, but other nights you have a hard time settling down and staying asleep. I think part of it the teeth coming in.  As soon as these last 4 teeth come in I pray it is a while before more try to break through.

Love,

Mom

 

Please continue on to the next blogger in the CM Letters to Our Sons blog circle, Mindy’s B

Back to School

Dear Ellie

My precious one and only daughter.  I am so glad that you are home from your summer visit with your Dad.  I know that we text and talk while you are gone, but those long weeks sure do seem to drag by slowly. I am so glad that you got time in California with him, and that you made a lot of memories at Vacation Bible School, the beach and at the Boys & Girls Club.
 

I hope that you had a fantastic time at the beach house with your cousins and grandparents before we arrived.  It was fun getting to walk in and surprise you Wednesday night.  I had tears in my eyes and you squealed with delight and ran to me.  I loved going to the beach with you and exploring Oxnard during our stay at the beach house.  Your grandpa had a blast taking you and your cousins out to fly the trick kite. You were very strong and held on to those handles even though it turned your palms bright red. I was very proud of the questions you asked while we toured the Maritime Museum. You really seemed to absorb all that nautical information.  As we left our tour guide said that I had a sailor on my hands.  Hopefully it is something we can explore more in the future.
 

At Open House before school started we learned you had been put into the accelerated 4th grade class. I know that you will work hard this year with Ms. Martin as your teacher. I enjoy seeing you eager to go to school and ready to learn.  You even asked her if you would be learning algebra this year.  I didn't learn algebra till I was in the 6th or 7th grade. Your sense of style is definitely original. You love bright colors and enjoy wearing hats and glasses.

Love,

Mom

 

Please continue on to the next blogger in the CM Letters to Our Daughters blog circle, Jessica Schugardt

The arrival of my 3rd child, pt 1

My birth story began long before the day my third child was born. For weeks I had been having prodromal labor (lots of regular contractions that don't change), but had not progressed past 3cm and my cervix remained high and thick. At each regular Tuesday appointment my Midwife would remind me to call her if anything changed. I refused to make the "walk of shame" so I never went to Labor & Delivery to be checked between appointments. I kept telling my midwife and husband (and anyone that asked) that the only way I was going to Labor and Delivery was if my water broke, or my midwife told me to go.

On Monday June 13th my midwife called me because she hadn't heard from me over the weekend yet again. She asked for me to come in that afternoon so that she could check me. After my husband got off work we went in. While the midwife was checking the heartbeat with the Doppler she was getting low heart tones. At first she wanted to send me over to L&D to be monitored for a while but I didn't have anything with me and I was afraid they would keep me and I would end up with interventions I didn't want. She checked my cervix and "stirred the pot" which is a nice way of saying that she stripped my membranes. Before deciding if she was sending me to L & D or not she had me lay on my left side and rechecked the baby's heartbeat. While laying on my side they got better and the baby was being active so she let me go home. She did say that if labor didn't start that night I was to come in the next morning (Tuesday) after she got to the office.

Well her "stirring the pot" got contractions going in a more regular pattern. I spent the evening managing my discomfort by using my exercise ball. I had lots more mucus during the evening but nothing that alarmed me. I made sure that the kids packed their bags for Grandma's house and got all my things stacked by the door so they were ready to go. My husband thought it was all in my head and that I was being silly. I had a feeling that the next day would be "baby day” and I wanted stuff ready. I spoke with my mom before I went to bed and told her I would call if anything changed in the middle of the night. I was still able to fall asleep and stay asleep during the contractions, so I woke up Tuesday morning and prepared to have a baby that day.

My husband on the other hand didn't even want to wake up! I got up at my normal time and got ready for work and he was staying home with the older kids. I woke him up before I left and reminded him that a few things needed done in case I was having the baby that day.  He brushed it off yet again, but got out of bed because our oldest son was already awake.  I went into the office for a few hours getting things ready for my absence, then went over to my midwife's office at about 10am. When she checked me she said there was a lot more fluid and mucus and that I had dilated a little more. Even though my cervix was still high and only about 60-70% she said she was sending me over to L&D and would be over at lunch to break my water.

I called my husband to tell him as I left her office to drive over to the hospital and he still didn't believe me. I managed to convince him to at least grab my stuff and the older kids bags, but he still wouldn't pack himself a bag. In fact he wouldn't even shave!

When I got to Labor and Delivery I was standing at the front desk waiting for them to tell me my room was ready when I felt a gush. I knew what that meant! I sent a text to a few friends, it was 11:30 am.  I then realized that I forgot my birth plan in the van so I walked back out to get it before they called my name. As I was walking out DH & the kids got there. DH asked if I was going home already because it was false labor. I laughed at him and said no I just forgot something in the car. I told him I thought my water broke, but he said he couldn't see anything on my jeans. As we walked back in I felt more and more gushes. When we got back to the desk I asked if my room was ready, and it was.

I had to go back alone, and I also forgot to have my husband give me my bag so I didn't have my own gown to change into. I changed into the hospital gown and got cleaned up. They did all the check in stuff, I had to get a 20 min strip on the monitor so I was in the bed answering questions. They took my blood and didn't place an IV! After they were done with everything they let me get out of bed and my DH & kids came back.
  
I was having contractions at this point that came every 5-7 minutes but I was still able to talk through them.  I knew it was going to be a little while until my midwife came up and the kids were already very excited.  While I was getting checked in my husband had taken them to the cafe to get something to eat.  The kids were very excited ... a little too excited.  My husband and I decided to have the friends go over and play with some family friends.  My mom showed up about this time with flowers and I got changed into my own gown!  It was while I changed my gown there was green on the toilet paper when I went to the bathroom. 
  
My mom had not had lunch so we sent my husband to go to the bakery/deli down the street to get soup for me and sandwiches for them. I got some of the soup down between the contractions and a little bit if bread, it was my first real (and only) meal of the day. I stayed out of the hospital bed and was mainly on my birth ball or walking around the room. I was still able to use my iPhone to text friends and check Facebook, but the contractions started coming more frequently and started getting stronger.  Each time I tried to relax and not focus on the pain.
 
The next time I went to the bathroom there was more green, and I knew it was meconium, so I told the nurse. I thought my midwife was coming over at lunch, but since my water fully broke on it's own there was no reason for her too. The nurse told my midwife I had meconium staining. My midwife ok'd the nurse to do hourly checks with the doppler instead of having to be on the monitors, so that was nice. The nurse said my midwife would be over after office hours unless I needed her sooner.

to be continued …