Such a sweet smile!

Its been 10 weeks since delivery day. Austin has had reflux which has made things a little difficult getting him on a steady schedule, but overall he is such a joy. He LOVES to be held and I really do enjoy holdng him. He is pretty good at communicating his needs and we understand him when he is hungry, tired or just wants to be held. A few weeks ago Gram and Grand Dad arrived. Gram introduced us to Veggie tales, a cartoon that is so adorable...the kids really enjoy watching them. I got to have some free time while they were here. I had an evening scrapbooking, which was really fun. It was great to get Austins book started too. Mike had me get my toes done for Mother's day, and I just love getting them done. The kids enjoyed having their grand parents here, they get spoiled with extra attention and kisses! Granddad and Gram said they had seen Austin smile, but Austin smiled at me on May 15th. Such a sweet thing to see his first smile and acknowledgement of me. It makes all the sleepless nights worthwhile. He is really starting to coo and smile and have mini conversations with us. He is sleeping 6-7 hours at night, I should be sleeping now while he is, but I am not.

I have been making my schedule more and more busy with play dates and I signed up for a summer bible study on Wednesday nights. It will be a challenge to get there, but I feel confident I can do it - plus its free child care! Now that's incentive. Its important to me to get out and more importantly to get in God's word. Plus the kids really enjoy being around other kids.

Alex had a funny thing happen to him the other day. He was playing on the at tower and his bottom fell through the hole, he was yelling...I stuck, I stuck! I wish I had grabbed the camera..it was so funny. Ella is starting to point to her diaper when she needs to have it changed. Today she pointed and said, poop. Sure enough, she was right!

We have hired Natalie and sometimes Adam (the kids next door) to come over and babysit the nights Mike is working. Its been a huge help to me just getting the kids outside to play and then we do our bedtime routine, sometimes I even have time to go for a walk after we get the kids down. I wish we could have her for longer, but at least its a few hours I have some extra hands. She is so helpful and takes initiative to do things, I dont have to ask. The other night I scurried off in a hurry to bible study and left the kitchen a mess and she had the whole place spotlless when we returned. She has gotten pooped and pee'd on by Alex and Austin...and she even came back after that! Not to mention, how thoughtful she is, because she bought the kids some veggie tales vhs at a garage sale, it was so sweet of her to think of them. She is kind and patient with the kids (and with me) and you can tell they adore her. Mike is going out of town the end of June, it will be a very challenging experience for me, but thankfully Natalie will come help out a bit and take some of the stress away. Its tough when you have Austin who has to have his needs met immediately and then Alex and Ella who would like their attention too.

Our fence is being put up next week. We are really excited to have a safe place for the kids to play. Gram says the fence is our Anniversary and birthday presents for the next 20 years. : ) That was so sweet of Mike's parents to do that for us. I am excited to sit outside and enjoy watching the kids play. Next year the kids will be old enough to have a swing set, so we'll be getting them that for their birthday.

Our baby boy is finally here!

Finally our baby boy arrived March 21st at 10:09am. Weighing 8 pounds, 21 inches long. He is adorable and such a lovely new addition to our family. The delivery was exceptional, we delivered at Overland Park Regional Medical Center and the staff was top notch. We arrived at the hospital at 8am and my doctor came in shortly after and said, its birth day! After calling our parents and a few others we moved along smoothly to the delivery room, I hadn't eaten a thing this time around so that was good. Mary was in our triage and was able to move with us to the delivery room, which was really nice because she cared for us during my last hospital visit under two weeks before. As they brought me to the delivery room, I was very anxious about the c-section, last time with the twins I had the sensation that I couldn't breathe due to the spinal. As they were preparing my back, I was chanting my prayers over and over in a low voice, I was relying solely on Jesus to get me through this and it was on His strength alone. After the surgery Mary had told me she thought she could hear me praying and she wanted me to know she was praying for me too. Everything went so smoothly, praise God. This time I could breathe easy and I could even hear music playing in the back ground (one song in particular that I remember is Peter Gabriel, In your eyes). Then the nurse told Mike, okay now is the time to roll your video...Dr Younglove announced, it's a boy! We were beyond he moon. I could hear him cry and I couldn't wait to hear how much he weighed and how long he was. I also wanted to be sure he looked like Austin. Austin got to be in Daddy's arms while they sewed me up. It was such a pleasurable experience compared to the organized chaos that we felt with the twins. With Alex and Ella there were two neonatal teams ready to take the babies and about 20 people in surgery all having their specific tasks. A doctor telling me they are taking my babies, here are their bracelets...all while they are finishing my surgery and i couldn't breathe. Any who, Austin is here now HOORAY!