Happy 3rd Birthday Rhycherd!

You have increased the volume in our home :P and in our hearts :) We love you Rhychie!

My Kiddos For Halloween!

 Kaedence is a skeleton :)

 Rhycherd is Batman :)

 Laneah is Aurora :)

Bo and I cheated :)

Happy Halloween!

Latest Pics of Kids - Ready For Church :)

I am such a blessed mommy :)

Kaedence 6 weeks

This is my little beauty on her blessing day :)

She is such a good baby! She sleeps from 10-10 every night with only 1-2 feedings! I am one very blessed and happy mom!

I had made it 5 1/2 weeks of breastfeeding her on my boob! The longest I have ever made it! But I have an overactive letdown and she would just squirm and pull off and swallow lots of air which caused her gas :( So I decided to exclusively pump. She loves her feedings again :)

She will squirm on her tummy a few inches! It just blows our minds! She has tried to roll from back to tummy several times too :) She is now talking a little and batting at toys out of excitement :)

I love my Kae Kae :)

Kaedence Marie Thomas

 This little beauty joined the outside world at 7:50 am on July 11th :)

Laneah and Rhycherd both ADORE her :) Nay always wants to hold/play with her and Rhych always says "She's so adornable" :)

Birth Story:
I had been having prodormal labor for weeks, so when contractions would come on I would not get overly excited and time them for a while. But the little boogers would always go away. At 3:00 am I woke up to the most painful contraction I had felt. It lasted about 1 1/2 min. Then another one came 5 minutes later. They kept coming every 5 minutes and lasting 3 minutes each! All the "exercises" we had been practicing for labor pains (rubs, massages) made me mad! They made the pain worse! So I had Bo put a hot washcloth on my back during contractions while I was in bed or had him pour the hot bath water on my back, stomach, and thighs while I was in the tub. I tell you, I did NOT want to be touched! We timed the contractions for about 2 hours before calling the midwife. She asked if she should come or if we wanted to labor alone for a while longer. We wanted to be alone. At this point I am groaning through these things. They HURT! We called our friends to come get the kids. They live about an hour away and have 4 kids to get ready so we knew it would be a while before they could make it. About 7 am I got into the tub again and felt a new pain, only what could be described as transition contractions. Oh my heavens, I couldn't even get enough oxygen to moan they hurt so bad! Thank heavens, I only had to endure 4 of those before I felt like I had to go to the bathroom, got up, sat on the toilet, and my water broke! Immediately I looked at Bo and said, "Call Rhoda, I feel like I need to push!" Bo called her and she was on her way... But no amount of speeding could get her here in time :P 10 minutes of me saying "Honey, I can't do this!" and Bo calming me down saying "Yes you can honey. It is almost done. You can do this!" and little Kaedence was delivered by her daddy in our bed with her siblings in the next room :) Needless to say, Bo called our friends and told them nevermind :) My midwife and her nurse showed up a few minutes later :) The kids were not freaked out at all, they were actually in awe when they saw her :)

I am so proud of myself for having made it through all natural. It was amazing to feel and see how God has this process happen, BUT I have also realized I am a woman who does not mind being numb from the waist down (I have never had complications from an epidural) and will NOT do childbirth natural again :P

Some Great Labor Quotes!

Throughout this whole pregnancy I have watched TONS of natural labor videos on youtube. Today I watched one with some AMAZING quotes I wanted to share:

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding - Khalil Gibran

Birth may bring you face-to-face with your insecurities, doubts, inadequacies, and fears. It may also bring you face-to-face with your joy, determination, willingness, and courage. -The Pink Kit

The power and intensity of your contractions cannot be stronger than you because it IS you -Unknown (I agree this is true with NATURAL contractions...)

Nay's Recital Photos!

Laneah had her first ballet recital a few weeks ago :) She got to wear some light make-up (Powder, mascara, lip stick) and that made her day! She looked absolutely gorgeous! We are so proud of her :) I will post the videos once we get them put into a format appropriate for our computer :)

3rd Trimester Photo and Update!

I reach 37 weeks on Tuesday! She can come safely anytime starting then! It is crazy that she could be here so soon :)

Just A Quick Update!

Sorry I have not posted in a while! Our computer was on the fritz and we finally just had to buy a new one :/

But another reason why I haven't written and for a much happier reason is, we are moving! I am not liking having to move a 2nd time in this pregnancy but it was what God had in store :) We are going to be moving into a 4 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath, 2200 sq ft rental home with a basement and fenced in backyard! It is also on Bo's office property so Bo will just be walking across a small field to get to work! It is a lovely home and we are so excited! We have been cleaning it slowly and the landlord (Bo's boss) is letting paint areas we want :) It has been exhausting but wonderful!

Laneah will be doing her ballet recital! It's at the end of this month, so hopefully in early June I can have pictures from that up :)

Just Had To Share :)

Whenever I need to be in the kitchen for an extended period of time cooking, I put on a cd on the computer and play it in the kitchen with me. I started playing the latest mix cd Bo made for me, and Nay all the way from upstairs says, "Mom what are you cooking?!" I love how they know when mom is making something :)

Rhychie's Dance Class

There is no uniform so no pic :P But I just had to share how much he loves his class :) They just dance to fun music withprops but he loves it :)

Nay's Ballet Class

 This is how Nay wants her hair done for class :)

 The little princess posing

With the pics I took of Nay, Rhychie said "Picture of Rhychie in underwear?" :P

But she LOVES this class! And so do we! The teacher leaves a slot in the door so we can see the class anytime we want :) And the waiting room is just fantastic! It's got a kitchen, 3 slides, and lots of smaller toys so Rhycherd does not get bored :) We are both hoping Laneah wants to do the optional recital in May, we would just love to see her in it :)

End Of 2nd Trimester!

Oh preggo brain, forgot to flip the pic! Sorry!

Little miss Kaedence is doing great!

I have noticed and my midwife agreed, Braxton Hicks get stronger with each pregnancy! This time around, there are even times they are so intense I have to stop what I am doing. Call me morbid, but I love this! It is giving me great practice on the relaxation techniques and breathing through "contractions" I have learned through the Bradley Method.

Just Some Updates!

Bo is now Branch Executive Secretary. He is just loving it :)

Laneah and Rhycherd have dance classes starting soon! There is this super laid back teacher who has OPTIONAL recitals and does not require specific color of leotards and what not and she is cheap! I got Nay Nay signed up for an 8 week ballet and Rhychie for an 8 week DancinTots for less than $100!

Kaedence (The little bun in the oven) is now trying herself on my ribs... I love how they grow but get scared once they can reach my ribs :P

Tomorrow I am 24 weeks! There is always a peace of mind for me once I reach the time where if something should go wrong, if my baby's came out, they have a chance of surviving :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow!

And Our Little Outnumberer Is A . . . .

Girl! The women will rule this roost for a few years! :)

My Other Blog!

Oh don't worry, I am keeping this one! Read the intro and see what it's all about :)

http://simplelanelle.blogspot.com/

You Never Know How Much Good You Do

This video made me cry... Beautiful

Way To Go Girls!

Between my little girl who doesn't know when to stop pulling on the roll per potty break :) and this pregnant woman who pees every hour, we are going through 3-4 rolls of toilet paper a week!

Sorry for the random post... just had to share :P

2nd Baby Appt With Midwife

Went wonderfully again!

I had brought up how my exhaustion had not gone away since the first trimester ended. She said even though I was "clinically" not anemic (numbers in the normal range) that she was going to do with me what she does with other moms who have anemic symptoms in the normal range, she was going to treat me with Hema-Plex pills. They have worked wonders so far! I have only been on them for 3 days but I feel a difference :)

I cannot gain weight with this baby! I was 176 before I conceived, then I lost a pound after the 1st trimester sickies and have stayed at that 175 since. Baby is doing great so far, 131 BPM and my uterus is measuring right on track :) So she said not to worry yet, but gave me a list of things to eat to help me gain weight. (I am NOT used to be told to eat good fatty foods during pregnancy, I have usually gained 5 or so pounds by this point :P)

We see baby at a clinic Feb 19 and will tell you guys what he/she is :) (By the way, we are thinking girl)

Banana Bites

What we do is slice up a banana, put peanut butter (or Reeses spread, Nutella, etc) in between 2 slices of the banana and make little banana bites with them! They are slickery little beasts so next time I am sticking a toothpick in each one so they don't slide apart! But they are nummy and semi-healthy (depending on the spread you choose). :)

A Good Sunday

This is my almost 15 week old belly :) Big milestone! I actually put on make up for the first time in 2 1/2 months! When I reach this stage every pregnancy, I know the sick period is over :)

Bo gave a wonderful talk on Family Prayer at church today! Good job babe :)

Rhycherd went ALL of church in underwear! Funny story: whenever Rhych has to go potty, he says "poddy" while taking off his pants and underwear... Yeah, there he was in Nursery stripping down! They found me ASAP! It was hilarious!

We are all doing great! Happy Sunday!

My First Midwife Appointment

I had my first baby appt with my midwife this past Tuesday. It was wonderful! Her office was a home basically. It had a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and office. So homey. We sat and talked for an hour! From how my pregnancy was going to how much she charges to hearing my sweet baby's heartbeat for the first time :) I did not feel rushed during this appointment. AND while I was having my appt, my kids were able to run in and out between the office and living room (where some awesome toys were) the whole time. It didn't bother me at all because the nurse kept an eye on them and we were the only family there :)

When we got to my favorite part, hearing my baby's heartbeat, she only used a doppler! I got to leave my bottoms on and just have my shirt raised to my ribs. Perfect little heartbeat by the way, 142 :)

She also did not perform a vaginal exam! She also told me she will not do so unless something seems wrong in the pregnancy or labor, or unless I request it! So happy to hear that!

She of coarse took my weight and checked my urine and I go in for my blood test this week at a lab.

I am loving the midwife experience so much so far!

Follow Me On My Journey With A Home Birth

Before eyebrows are raised, jokes come to mind, or horrifying stories come to you; stop them. You will need to keep an open mind when I write posts about getting ready for this next birth, which will be happening at home with my midwife.

First I feel I should address the reasons why I have chosen to have a home birth:
- I have gone into labor ON MY OWN both times, but when I got to the hospital they felt the need to augment my labors with either Cervidil or Pitocin (Shooting me into pain unimaginable)
- I will get to eat and drink if I feel I need to during labor! By the time I would reach a 10 and need to push, I would already be shaky from low blood sugar because I was NOT ALLOWED to eat in the hospital
- I will get to sit in a bath, walk around, bounce on the exercise ball, WHATEVER I need to do to get through the contractions
- I will NOT have an IV in my hand
- I will not be forced to give birth in the lithotomy position (on back with hips and knees flexed with thighs apart)
- It will be much more intimate, I will only have my hubby, midwife, and nurse there
- I am very much wanting a birth the way it has been done since the beginning of time
- It only costs $2700 for the whole thing, from prenatal appts to post partum

I will keep you all updated with appointments and eventually of course, the birth :)