The Baby-part 2

So, my dh (dear husband) was on board now. All I needed was my bfp (big fat positive-on a pregnancy test that is). If you haven't noticed I'm now speaking the lingo of an online community. With the help of my wonderful friend (Wendy-thanks!) I found a website for those ttc (trying to conceive) and made some wonderful friends while going on this journey. My last pregnancy (from my keyboard to God's ears). I was so thankful to have this support group because I had some complications with Haley. We feared I would miscarry due to some medical complications (placenta previa). I was so excited to finally get past that and be cleared for a "normal" delivery...by that time I was huge! Anyways...this is supposed to be about Haley-girl. We had a very smooth delivery and things were fine. Then I brought her home. For the first two weeks we were in some kind of honeymoon phase. All was well. The baby slept (as well as you'd expect a newborn to anyways) and she nursed well...it was great. We even **gasp** thought we could prob'ly have one more-so Haley would have a sibling her age. HAH!
We no longer think that!
This baby that God gave us...shows His sense of humor! It's a heavenly sense of humor...but humor none-the-less.
She is the cutest little thing. One of the things I remember best about her baby-ness is that she stretched in that adorable baby way ALL the time! It was so sweet. She would stretch about every 2 minutes. So sweet. And funny because she still takes her stretching and waking up very seriously.


Then, that first two weeks-the honeymoon-was over. She began to take over the house. She screamed from 9-12 every night. Awful. We were at a loss. There didn't seem to be anything wrong (Lindsay had reflux but Haley didn't have any of these symptoms). She would nurse until she threw up (but only from over eating) and then scream some more. We finally found out that her daddy could calm her for short minutes during those hours. And so he did. (Thank You God for my husband!) And her bedtime, no matter what we did was somewhere around 2-3 am. Now, if you remember anything about our life...I homeschool the older two. Sleeplessness is not as horrible if it's your first child because you can sleep with the baby...not so with your third and 2 older children that need, not only mommy but an education. It was tough going. But we made it! We've gone through easier stages and harder ones. I've been extremely humbled at times and extremely proud at others. It's been quite the journey, going from 2 (older) children to having 3 and one so much younger.
But this baby is such a blessing. I cannot imagine our lives without her. She is so full of life and other things too.
Every night I sing to her and one of the songs I sing (After Jesus Loves Me-which HAS to be first) is You Are My Sunshine. She is truly our little sunshine. Such a ham and an entertainer. We are learning new things every day from her...We've all had to learn to be a little more patient. When your first child is born you have to make room, but your whole world revolves around that one little person. When your third child comes (almost 5 years after the current "baby" was born) it really is hard. Try babyproofing when your older children's favorite toys are Legos and Polly Pockets. Oh, and marbles...Yeah-not baby friendly. Overall the kids do really well with her though. I know there are times when they could use more attention than they get but they love her and give her a lot of it themselves. I can't believe how fast all of them are growing up though.

Merry Christmas!

Comments & Myspace layouts

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper definitely!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial since we've had kids--too paranoid of fire

3. When do you put up the tree? After Thanksgiving-this year it wasn't until into December!

4. When do you take the tree down? ASAP-after Christmas

5. Do you like eggnog? yes

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My Cabbage Patch doll-the year that they came out and she was bought on the black market! :)

7. Hardest person to buy for? My dad...and Harold's dad

8. Easiest to buy for? My kids!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yup, but not out this year-due to little Haley...just not worth the fight

10. Do you send cards or email cards? Send cards-every year so far!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't like that question. I would feel guilty even answering it...LOL (but seriously, I don't know)

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Prob'ly Charlie Brown...but we just aren't into movies that much so I don't have much to choose from.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Early November prob'ly-sometimes if I find a good deal earlier

14. Ever recycled a Christmas present? No

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Hmmm, food? LOL I'm not real discerning on food. ;)

16. Lights on the tree? Colored

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Joy to the World...

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay Home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Nope

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Commercialism--and that I participate in it. **blushing**

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Old fashioned hodge podge! Lots of color and variety... (Hey, I have small children...no room for a decorator tree here ;) )

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner ? We do ham, green bean casserole...the norm. I love it all.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I never know how to answer that dumb question...I'm not picky

26. Santa or Snowmen? Santa-I hate snow, it's cold ;)

The Baby-Part I

So, about 3 years ago I was in tears. I wanted a 3rd baby soooo bad I would just cry and cry (and I never-literally never-cry). The problem? My husband was satisfied with status quo. He didn't want to rock our world. I waited, and I prayed. A LOT. And not all nice prayers. Some of my prayers were so raw with emotion that only a woman wanting, no not wanting, needing a baby. It's a primal need to have a baby. I had felt this before but the difference was that Harold was on board the other time(s). I don't know which was worse, both of us wanting one and it being totally out of our control (control is an issue I have) or me alone in the wanting and knowing better than to nag, trick or manipulate my husband. He's a pretty strong guy anyway but I could've tried. I knew better though. I value my marriage and therefore knew better. We had gone over this several times since Jared was born and I would break down in tears (not the manipulative kind, just the truly sad ones). Long story short I was going to be in a wedding in Austin. We decided that I would go alone rather than both of us go and drag the 2 kids along-since I would be busy as matron-of-honor. This was at the height of one of these spells where I was so upset-wanting a baby, needing to feel that life inside of me again. I thought sure, after he'd had to do EVERYTHING the whole weekend with the two kids I would never get my baby. I went. After the wedding I drove most of the night to get home so I could go to church with my family on Sunday morning. When I woke (after only a couple hours of sleep)my wonderful husband told my bleary-eyed self that he wanted another baby. You know what I did? I hit him-not violently I'm not a violent person! I thought he was joking. After we cleared up that little misunderstanding I was the happiest (even if tired) I had been in a long time! This wasn't a thing he agreed to just to placate his emotional wife. He gave me all the right answers to let me know that. I never wanted to have a baby w/o him being just as into it as I was. I knew that having 3 kids would be a lot if there was any resentment. He told me (sniff sniff) that he realized how quickly the kids were growing up and how much he wanted to see all the firsts again-the first smile, the first time the baby finds his or her hands and feet, the first word, first step...He was on board! That is installment one...next one coming soon. :)

My Little Man

In helping Jared to do a project for Cub Scouts (He should officially be a Tiger Scout as of the January Pack meeting! Yay!) I have realized just how quickly he is growing. In the past year his face has turned from a little boy's face to a big boy's face. It's amazing just the difference between last December and this one! It makes me kind of sad...these are days I will never have back with my little guy. And I think that it's even more poignant with boys because as the saying goes: Have a daughter and you have her for life, A son's only a son til he takes a wife...
I've seen this with my mom and my brother. We rarely ever get to talk to and see Jordan. Of course he goes to his wife's family's holiday functions and such most of the time. As do we-spend more time with my family that is. I try to think how my mother-in-law must feel sometimes because after all, my husband was once her little boy just like Jared is mine. **sniff sniff**
He can be such a sweet little guy, when he's not wielding a weapon of some sort. Often, when we can't find him we need only to look up-a pole, a tree, the fort...anywhere that is a challenge to get, he's there. He's such a rough and tumble boy but also can be so tender and helpful-asking me what he can do to help and if I need anything. Or just hugging me when I'm sad or have a headache.
It's amazing...how these little kids just get right into your heart. It's too bad that when they grow up and still keep part of it, huh?

100 Things to Do Before I Die

Surprise, surprise. I've decided to copy something I've seen on a few other blogs...Make a list of 100 things to do before I die. Of course it might take me that long to decide what to put on the list, but that's ok, right?

1. Go back to school to become an RN
2. Lead someone to Christ
3. Visit Niagra Falls
4. Take my children to Disney World
5. Renew my wedding vows (we didn't have a "real" wedding)
6. Sleep through the night ;)
7. Leave the continent of North America to visit some incredibly romantic spot-Paris, Italy...
8. Visit Yellowstone National Park
9. Become a grandmother
10.Be debt free
11.Finish my scrapbook (ha ha ha ha)
12.Sit in a rocking chair next to my (very old) husband! I just think that's the best ending to any love story
13.Ride a zip line
14.Leave the continent of NA again to visit somewhere extremely significant in History (Germany).
15.Take ballet lessons
16.

Any ideas for any more anyone??????? Help me!

I Joined the Resistance

I am not going to sit by silently as Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi
and Harry Reid re-make our nation in their liberal image.

That's why I just joined a grassroots conservative effort to
RESIST Obama's liberal agenda. Please go here to join with me:

http://www.grassfire.org/111/petition.asp?PID=18662696&NID=1

Thanks!


Cara Robertson

Can I Be Sappy?

As I was thinking how fast this holiday season is going-Christmas is a short 21 days away!-I realized it is just an example of the bigger picture. This life is passing quickly! You don't realize how quickly until you have children. I look at the 3 of them and I see that they are growing up-even though when they were babies I had a discussion with each one of them and they agreed not to do that to me, to grow up.

Lindsay is now 8-almost 9! That just seems so big to me. So grown up. She has such opinions on everything and is not afraid to tell me what they are. Even when they are nothing close to mine! We are so different and yet we also have a lot in common. We are readers. I love that I have passed that on to my daughter! On the other hand, she is much more of an "outside the box" kind of person than I am. I follow the "rules"-whether it's how I dress, how I draw or color, or how I play(ed). Lindsay likes to mix different types of toys to play with them how she wants-which for whatever reason makes me crazy! I should embrace her free-spiritedness. There are a lot of things I should do...I should spend more time cuddling this daughter of mine that is quickly growing and will not want my cuddles. I should play and dream with her. I should read to her the classics-Little Women, Under the Lilacs, Alice in Wonderland.... I should spend time brushing the pretty hair of this pretty girl that is mine.

my little girl
so anxious
to be grown
not ready
not ready
still tender
my baby
my little one
so anxious
to be grown
not ready
finding her way
lip gloss and nail polish
tugging her away
from dolls and teddy bears
still holding tight
not ready
don't let go
i'm still your mommy
you're still my baby
my little girl





Jared and Haley's post coming soon...

Where...

have all the bloggers gone???
I guess everyone is busy with holiday stuff and not blogging... :(