I feel like life went from this:



to this:




And we'll be starting back up homeschooling tomorrow.

What an eventful week!

This has been such an incredible week!

This picture was taken on our first day home from the hospital, Kathleen at 2 days old.


It also happened to be my sweet daughter Amanda's 9th birthday that day. :) I thought it was pretty special that she got to meet her new sister on her birthday.

Little miss has spent most of the week looking like this, peaceful, adorable and sleepy.

And then there's Noah. My huggable 15 month old. He's been crawling a couple of months now with no attempts at walking...then guess what he decided to do this week? Yep, he's toddling all around now!

On a sentimental note, see the pj's he's wearing now? These are hand me downs I was given when my oldest was little. They were from a very nice friend. Now, they have been worn by all of her children and 7 of mine. It's going to be a sad day when they wear out.

We have also been extremely blessed with FOOD this week. The church has provided dinner meals each evening, as well as two of our neighbors. Ian's co-workers have also been very thoughtful, they brought by a couple of meals and several bags of non-perishable food like granola bars, apple sauce, cereal and such. Very practical and much appreciated!

Introducing.....

Kathleen
Sue

6 lbs 3 oz
18 3/4 inches long

Born 8-19-09 at 3:50 pm

I was induced into labor yesterday morning at about 8 am. Things took a slow start but I finally started having contractions about every 5 minutes by 11:30 am. I had moderate labor pains until about 3 pm and then they started getting pretty intense. The nurses called in the doctor shortly after that and in 5 or 6 pushes we were looking into the face of this precious little girl!


Side note: There were 3 nursing students attending the Ob ward yesterday who watched her be born, I guess that made their day. It was their first day of classes and they actually got to attend a birth, they seemed pretty excited.

Update

After discussing things with my doctor this afternoon we came to the decision that I'm going to be induced tomorrow morning!! This was based on the information that I'm measuring small and so is baby (not extreme, just a bit) and my placenta is calcified/mature. Basically doc thinks that she will have an easier time gaining weight on the outside than on the inside so getting her delivered sooner is the best option.

All that being said, prayers would be appreciated. I always get nervous before delivery and this time is no exception. ;o)

I'm off to try and get a few things accomplished....hopefully the next time you hear from me it's with a birth announcement!!!!

Our Trip to Six Flags

At the beginning of the spring this year the kids participated in a reading program to earn tickets to Six Flags. We had received the tickets (for 3 kids & one adult) and told the kids we'd make sure that we went. Well, the tickets were only good through August 9th so last weekend was our last chance. I debated all the pros and cons and the cons seemed to be winning: 3 hour drive, forecast of 100+ degrees, cost, 37 weeks preggo....but disappointing the kids just wasn't something I was up to. I budgeted in the price of the tickets and gas and planned to take food with us so we wouldn't end up eating out. I'm not sure why but I was still feeling pretty stressed out about it all. My main two concerns were the cost of the tickets we still needed and the long span of time in the park without food. (I'd planned to eat right when we arrived and right when we left and brought food in our cooler)

So, I just prayed that it would all work out.

The drive down went well and after an absurd amount of time trying to get into the parking lot, we arrived at the ticket line. We're standing waiting and this man in the next line over came up to Ian and said he had an extra coupon if we wanted it. It was good for a free child's admission $31.00!

A couple hours later we were taking a break in the shade at a table and passing around drinks and the people seated next to us came over and offered two baskets of french fries. They said it came with their order and they just weren't hungry enough and didn't want to waste it.

I felt weepy and oh so grateful as we were walking around. God is so GOOD! We came in under my planned budget and everyone had a little snack to tide over their bellies, both in ways I could never have imagined.

Now for some pictures. :)



Here's Abram, he was SUPER excited to see all of the people dressed up like characters. The first one he spotted was Bugs Bunny and he said, "Mom, I just want to hug him!"

There weren't very many rides that Josiah was able to go on, so you can tell how happy he was that he could ride this one!




And, we also got to see the St. Louis Arch on our drive....very cool!

Pregnancy Update

I went in for my 36 week check up yesterday afternoon. I don't think that there is anything real eventful to report but my current status is: good blood pressure, dilated 1 cm, baby's head is low and I'm measuring 33 cm.

Apparently measuring 33 when I'm 36 weeks made the doc a little curious so he wants to do a sonogram next week and measure how big she's getting. So, I'll get one last peek at her before she's born. ;)