Christmas

Christmas was, once again, pretty amazing.
The best part about this year was being reunited with all my siblings and their families.  Now, the first 4 grandchildren are boys and they are all old enough to play together.  So this is what I was really  excited for:

Here Lincoln (the little blonde) walked into a sword fight on accident!  It was a beautiful boy moment!

Christmas Eve morning, we all went and took family pictures.  This is the whole gang.  I really wish I'd held Rosie so she wasn't so tipsy.

This year, for the first time ever, we opened presents Christmas eve on account of early church.  And no one wanted to make the little ones wait until afterwards.

Ruth literally stealing the limelite in her new safety running vest.

Rosie's first Christmas present!

  

 

Ken's joy over receiving dried peppers.

The next morning we took the traditional children-on-the-stairs photo before church.

 Merry Christmas to all!

Grandma's visit

It was so wonderful to have my mother-in-law here!  Here are some pictures from her stay:

Doing what grandma's ought to do- Giving chocolate chips to toddlers!!!

From out of a cardboard fortess...

into civilization!!!
We are almost done unpacking boxes after a big push last night.  I am loving that I now know where (most of) my possessions are.  But I don't want to move for a long time.  It is certainly unpleasant on both ends.  (Except the part before you move when you try to eat all your food- I loved that.)
Since I am nearing the end of this period, I will let myself complain just a little bit.  Here is why I hate unpacking boxes:

• Chaos- every time you open one it feels like you are back at square one.  This means no table or bed or walking space.
• Decisions- Being the head woman of the family, it has fallen upon me to decide where just about everything goes.  This decision-making often spawns more decisions because of required rearranging, streamlining or additional purchasing.
• Children-  I truly love mine, but having one arm for unpacking (fortunately only for the later boxes- Thank you Marcy!) or keeping a toddler away from breakables makes me want to just leave those boxes packed forever.
• Space- I am now certain I will never have enough of it.

Alive

We are in our new home.
Alive.
And connected to the internet.
Seriously though, we've had some amazing help this week.  My mom and grandpa took a long day to help drive us and the truck down and did a ton (maybe literally?) of unloading.  And then some of our friends coordinated another crew of unload-ers that evening.  And for the past week, my angel of a mother-in-law has been helping from sunrise to waaaaay past sunset taking care of the children and doing dishes and keeping us well snacked.  Let's just say that there is not enough of her fudge left in the fridge!
Ken and I feel so blessed to receive so much help during this crazy Christmas season.

Also, I 'll be posting more pictures of our little angels once I unpack (and identify) that particular USB cord.

Es ist ein Ros entsprungen

I just remembered how much I love this song!



Es ist ein' Ros' entsprungen
aus einer Wurzel zart;
wie uns die Alten sungen,
aus Jesse kam die Art
und hat ein Blümlein bracht
mitten im kalten Winter,
wohl zu der halben Nacht.

English:
A rose sprang up
from a tender root;
as the ancients sang to us,
this variety came from Jesse
and produced a little flower
in the middle of cold winter,
at midnight no less.

Das Röslein das ich meine,
davon Jesaias sagt:
Maria ist's, die Reine,
die uns das Blümlein bracht.
Aus Gottes ew'gen Rat
hat sie ein Kind geboren
wohl zu der halben Nacht.

English:

The rose I mean
is the one Isaiah mentions:
it is Mary, the pure,
who produced the little flower.
By God's eternal providence
she bore a child,
at midnight no less.

Good Bye, Hospital

We're heading home today!

Rosie's Birth Story

So we had our induction scheduled for Tuesday (so we could be home for Thanksgiving), but we never dreamed that we wouldn't have a baby by then.  The weekend came and went without much note and so did Monday.  It was really nice to put Jared to bed and even be able to tell him goodbye, instead of leaving more unexpectedly.  So after a restless night, we got to the hospital at 7:30 Tuesday morning.
When we got there, they checked my cervix and I was already dilated to 5cm!  Halfway there before any real work was done!  Since I was so far along, my midwife (the amazing Loree) recommended that my water be broken and I should start walking.  Well, Ken and I walked for about half an hour before my mom got there (after she dropped Jared off with the sitter).  I had a few real contractions (real means I couldn't walk or be smiley through them) in the hallway.  The three of us headed back to my room at 9:30 so I could be monitored by the  nurses for a couple of minutes.  I laid down on the bed and then the contractions stopped.  I was a bit disappointed.  As soon as the nurses left, I got up from bed to start off on another walk and immediately had to go down on my knees.  And from then on things were pretty serious.
I don't remember too many details about the next few hours, but the contractions were long and the breaks were short.  I tried relaxing in the tub, but it just wasn't cutting it. Fortunately, I had an amazing support team.  There was my nurse Lori, my midwife Loree, Ken and my parents.  They took turns rubbing my back and feet, holding my hands, and putting cold cloths on my neck.  They were awesome!
I did ask for an epidural a couple of times, but apparently I only asked during contractions so my requests were unaddressed.  In the end, I did decide on getting a little something to take the edge off during the last hour or so. I don't remember the name of it (I'm learning my medical knowledge is very limited).  It was just perfect thing to make things more bearable at the end.
Pushing was scary (as it was my first time experiencing it) and not as exhilerating as I thought it would be.  For a couple of contractions, I refused to push.  It hurt and I did not want to.  There was much yelling and protesting.  That's when Ken, my hero looked at me and told me I had to push and that I could push.
He is my hero.
Anywho, that baby did get birthed.  She was quite the little yeller and I fell in love with her immediately.  I got to hold her and cuddle her right off and it was just the best.  She is beautiful and special and I love getting to know her everyday.  I am so glad that she is a piece of our family pie.

 I mostly love this picture because of my parents hugging in the background

 With nurse Lori (left) and midwife Loree, both of whom were amazing

 My mother holding my daughter

Brand new 

Peter and Rosie

 Proud Grandpa

Father-daughter bonding

This labor and delivery was completely different than my experience with Jared.  This time I was a week overdue with a midwife and without an epidural, while I went into my labor on my due date the first time with a doctor and epidural.  I am definitely going with a midwife from this point on because I just loved the support I felt at appointments and during labor.  The epidural debate is still going on in my mind.  I love how quickly I felt like myself this time, but that labor was nuts.  Good thing I have a while before I need to worry about that.

Double guilt

Today is the first day when I have felt guilt because I can't meet the needs of both of my children.
I was in the hospital the whole day with Rosie and I didn't get to see Jared at all.  I didn't know until near the end that Jared had a rough day.  And then I wasn't going to be able to get home before his bedtime.  When I was leaving Rosie in the able and loving arms of my mother, I felt just awful for not being there for her tonight.  Even though she is doing great, all the what ifs were running through my head as I hurried to the car to get to my sweet toddler boy.
When I got home I woke Jared up for a few minutes for some giggles and snuggles.  And I felt better.  He still loves me;  He knows that I love him.  After I calmed down a bit, I knew that Rosie will be even better than fine.  My mom is awesome with children and there are two nurses whose only job is to take care of her medical needs.
I've chilled out now.
I guess I'm glad to have another new experience in the parenting world!