Thank you, soldiers!

This Memorial Day weekend, I'm realizing how much I take my freedoms for granted and take for granted the self-sacrificing work of the men and women in the armed forces. Matthew's cousin Casey's husband Mike is in the Air Force. A few weeks ago, he returned from a 9 month deployment. On the day he returned to his wife and two small girls, their friends shot video and took photos of their reunion. Casey turned that footage into this wonderfully heartfelt video. (Casey, I hope you don't mind me posting it on my blog too but since it's public on youtube, I thought it would be ok. I really wanted my friends and family to have a chance to see it and appreciate Mike's service as a way to be reminded of the sacrificing military families across the country!)

School's Out for Summer

Philip and I finished kindergarten this past Wednesday.  I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment knowing that he and I worked through the rough days and laughed through the fun days to learn to read, write, understand an overview of history of the world, a lot about magnets, water and light, adding, and telling time.  He also enjoyed field trips to our local youth theatre's plays and recently some outdoor adventures. 

The last Friday of April, we joined my friend Trista and her kids, Jacob, Ella and Luke, and traveled up to the mountains to visit the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education.  I was a little hesitant to bring Juliet, but thankfully Trista encouraged me to bring her and I'm so glad I did.  Not only did it prove to myself that I can take care of my three kids out and about but I loved cuddling her in my Snugli carrier all day. The older kids had a great day learning about God's world and what goes on in streams.  We first had a mini-lecture from one of the forest rangers.  She taught the kids about what could live in a stream and how everything affects the habitat there.  We ventured outside and walked a short distance to a rapidly flowing stream.  With Juliet in tow, I didn't want to brave crossing the river so Trista helped all five big kids get across.

Next up was a lecture about salamanders and other things which live among mountain underbrush.  We hiked a short way up a trail to a spot where the kids were told to carefully turn over rocks in hopes of finding creeping creatures. It was a beautiful day exploring God's creation and once again realizing how much we LOVE field trips!

Our second outting with Trista and her kids came a few weeks later. It began as a day with us heading toward another organized field trip but unfortunately when we arrived at the location, Trista and I were told the event was cancelled due to a chance of rain. We were told there was a pioneer town not too far away so we switched gears and created our own field trip! What we found was a grouping of 18th century building which had been brought together on a small piece of land for historical sake. Thankfully we pulled up as a member of the local historical society was just finishing a "tour" and so he was gracious enough to do the tour again.

After exploring "Pioneer Town", eating our bag lunches on a picnic table, and going potty pioneer-style (i.e. outside behind a rock wall!), it was only 12:30pm. Trista and I were not ready to call it a day so we decided to stop at Walnut Grove Plantation. It is an actual home from the Revolutionary War time period and holds great historical significance. The kids enjoyed running around the main house and small out buildings. Once again we were treated to a tour by a very informative guide. One huge benenfit that I love about homeschooling is that field trips are not several chaperones and a bunch of kids but instead a few moms and their own kids. Much more comfortable feeling and not so rigid due to safety requirements. Again another wonderful day with friends and such a fun, hands-on way to learn.

Juliet slept peacefully through the Walnut Grove tour.

Matthew and I asked our kids what they learned that evening. Philip answered, "The people had horns in their kitchens." (Bull horns used to carry gun powder, etc.) Braewyn answered, "No touching!"

My Birthday Girl

For a good portion of Braewyn's life, I thought she'd always be our youngest.  That said, it's hard to believe my baby is now four years old.  With Juliet's birth, Braewyn became my Sweet Middle (child that is), and she (Braewyn) seems to be growing up overnight.  Her birthday, May 2, fell on a  Monday this year so we celebrated on the Saturday before with a cookout and then a little more the night of her actual birthday.

We met Saturday evening at my parents' house for a cookout with Nana, Papa, Grandma, Uncle Mike, Aunt Andrea, Holden, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Curt and Thomas. It was a good time and Braewyn received lots of fun things: playdough, coloring books, a Dora scooter, Disney princess shoes, a puzzle, and a Leapster 2.


Enjoying the cookout with brother and cousins.


Smiley big 4-year-old!


Good morning on her actual birthday!


Playtime with her new things.


Birthday lunch of her favorite foods: cashews, black olives, cheese stick and chips!


Riding her new scooter wearing new high heels!


Mini-party with Braewyn's friends who live on either side of us! She and Anna (4) are BFF's and she thinks Yvonne (16) is so cool!

I love you so much Braewyn and thank Jesus for you daily. You bring out the best and worst of me but both are leading me to be more like Him!

Two Months Together

Juliet is amazingly two months old. She had her first well-baby check-up yesterday. She is growing well at now 10 pounds (up a good bit from her birth weight of 7lbs. 3 oz.) It was heartbreaking to watch her get three shots. She was looking at me with her sweet eyes just before they stuck the needles in her legs and then the tears just started flowing. It wasn't that hard to watch Philip or Braewyn get shots as I knew they needed the vaccines and it was just part of growing up. I suppose with Juliet, I see her as my little angel who has yet to talk back or manipulatively try to steal a piece of candy without being caught. I know the day will come when she will receive well-deserved punishments, but until then I don't want to do anything to her to make her cry. Here is our two-month-old Juliet.

As for Philip and Braewyn, they are enjoying playing outside on our new swingset. My dad was gracious enough to help Matthew with the initial construction work. They spent about five hours in our garage getting the main structure together. My grandparents sent large amounts of money for Juliet so technically it's her swingset, but her brother and sister are just breaking it in for her until she's ready to join them!

PS: I think we are over the thrush. Juliet has been fine for a few weeks, but I could still tell it was hanging on in my body. I'm now taking garlic tablets and probiotics every day. I did take ten days of Diflucan pills to balance out the yeast levels in my body too. Nursing Juliet is worth fighting through this process. The lactation specialist at the hospital said I should be able to keep it under control if I continue taking the probitics throughout the duration of my breastfeeding. I'm learning to enjoy plain yogurt with bananas and blueberries!

Hooray for springtime!

I'm changing my background seasonally to keep myself from changing it too often. It was time to lose the snow and brighten things up. The above picture I took from the very back of our yard looking toward the house. The twigs are limbs of one of our peach trees which Matthew excitedly noticed began flowering recently. We pray this means it will bear fruit next year! How fun to pick apples, pears and peaches from our back yard (we have six fruit trees)! Spring time also means more playing outside. Hopefully in the next two weeks, we'll have a new wooden swingset constructed in the backyard. My grandparents sent money for Juliet. I didn't want to earmark it for diapers so after some thought, I decided a swingset would be a blessing to all three kids for years to come. We'll get Juliet into a baby swing by summer or fall at the latest, and Philip and Braewyn can burn off the extra energy they have and get some fresh air at the same time. I look forward to watching them enjoy it like my brother Mike and I enjoyed our swingset as kids!

Better Yet Worse

As far as adjusting to being a mom of three, I feel like I'm moving one step forward two steps back. Each morning I wake up feeling ready for the day but sometime during that day I begin feeling quite beat down. I'm partly to blame as I'm not getting enough rest (somewhat hard to do with three kids at home all day) and not eating meals in a timely manner (pushing lunch back to finish school or nurse Juliet when I'm starving).

That being said, I am now completely in love with my newest little daughter. It just takes me a while to emotionally bond with my children. I don't see it as a fault but just the part of my personality which cringes at big changes. A good friend gave me great advice before having Braewyn. She said that even though I'm already a mom and know how to be a mom, a new baby is a brand new person and I should give myself time to get to know her. Great advice and it helped me adjust to have Juliet around too.

Juliet and I are getting over thrush (I pray!). It's kind of like when you are on antibiotics and the bottle says, "Take complete dosage even if symptoms disappear before doing so." I know I need to keep up the routine for another week, but I'm not feeling as compelled to do so as when Juliet was having trouble nursing. She still has some whiteness on her tongue but nursing is going so much better. She no longer fusses and even eats great at night (yeah, no longer pumping at night!). She is really coming around as far as not being so severely sleepy all day. Juliet has reached that normal infant state of crying at night to eat and then crying once I put her back to bed afterward. Still trying to decide if she really likes pacifiers and if I want to get her to like them or not. Matthew and I are definitely feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. I'm feeling pretty good physically however I'm struggling with avoiding dairy and sweets. I'm rationalizing how much I can get away with and still combat the thrush.

Philip and Braewyn seemed fairly well adjusted to having Juliet around. They are getting more comfortable with her which means I have to watch them closer. Braewyn really would like to carry Juliet around but we've restricted her to holding the baby while sitting down. Philip likes to place blankets over Juliet's face and watch her squirm around underneath. He really does love her but just has a funny of showing it.

One Bottle of Milk in the Night, One Bottle of Milk!

So I thought I was adjusting well to three kids and then this week happened. On Monday, I began homeschooling Philip again attempting to get our daily schedule back on track as it had been before having Juliet. Also on Monday, I realized why Juliet has been such a fussy eater and why I'm feeling out of sorts... we're both battling thrush! Her little tongue is white and throat probably hurts. I had been experiencing some pain while nursing. It made for a bad combination and an emotional struggle to feed my newborn. Additionally, Juliet is still the sleepiest baby I've had yet. She is three weeks old today and still, day and night, I have to wake her up to eat every 3-4 hours. The daytime is not too bad as she rouses pretty well after I change her diaper and talk to her for a few minutes. However the nights were wearing me down very quickly. To maintain my milk supply, my body needs to feed Juliet every 3-4 hours (preferably every 2-3 but she is just too sleepy). That said, I've been setting the alarm clock for 3AM to wake up to then wake her up. Monday and Tuesday night were just horrible. After dragging myself out of bed, I would change her diaper. She ends up wetting on her pajamas while I'm trying to change her and that gets her screaming. I get her redressed and then try to nurse her. I guess her mouth hurts extra badly at night because as she's still crying, she arches away from my body and I struggle to get her to latch on. Once she would latch on, she falls back asleep. I would get frustrated and almost resentful of having to care for my precious new baby. After enduring that on Monday and Tuesday night, I decided on Wednesday night to pump and then give Juliet the bottle. I had the alarm set for 3AM but she began grunting at 2:30AM. I pumped and was so happy to see Juliet happily drink 3 ounces of milk from a bottle without fussing. It made for a much more pleasant late night feeding.

My mini-pharmacy in our bathroom...
I pray the thrush will be gone within another week with the regimen I'm currently using so I won't have to use the purple-colored dying liquid Gentian Violet which I used with Braewyn. After each feeding, I swab Juliet's mouth with liquid Nystatin. At each diaper change, I dab her bottom with vinegar water, let air dry and then apply Lotrimin cream. For myself, after each feeding, I rinse my nipples with water, pat dry, dab with vinegar water, let air dry and then apply Lotrimin cream. I'm eating plain yogurt but avoiding all other dairy and sweets. Also four times a day, I take an Echinacea pill and a Garlic pill. The first day, it seemed like a lot of hassle. It still is adding more to my days but I'm used to it and feeling better. Now I just need to make myself get more rest so my emotional state can get back to normal along with my physical state.

I bought this little blanket in Charleston in December when we didn't know Juliet's gender. Reading the words on it, "God's Little Lamb" has brought me peace when I've felt frustrated with caring for her. He has made her just the way she should be for whatever plans He has for her in life. I look forward to getting to know Juliet like I know Philip and Braewyn.


Here's proof that Juliet is occasionally awake.


Our newest student and her big sister...

Oh, what a week!

Hard to believe that one week ago right now I was laying in a delivery bed praying that my epidural would work as I awaited the time to push and welcome my newest child into the world. Matthew, Juliet and I stayed in the hospital until Sunday afternoon due to my being Group B Strep positive. However, I thoroughly enjoy the hospital stay with its room service and visits from family and friends. Once we arrived home, reality set it and my hormones raged. I swung between feeling confident and completely blessed to overwhelmed and completely incapable. Philip and Braewyn have loved getting to see Juliet on a daily basis but have had moments of insecurity caused by the changes. Juliet has also caused me several moments of mommy anxiety.

Tuesday I thought I might have to give up breastfeeding and resort to pumping and giving her bottles. She began to scream and turn beet red every time I brought her to my breast. I realized the next few days it was probably due to my using hand sanitizer right before feeding her and accidentally getting some in her mouth. That stuff is nasty as I licked my finger to see what she was experiencing. Last night, she became even sleepier than she had been and upon taking her temperature, Matthew and I realized it was because she was so cold -- 95.4 degrees F! I immediately called our hospital's 24-hour nurse line. A wonderfully kind male nurse reassured me that my concern was valid. He told me to bundle her up with blankets straight out of the dryer and take her temp again in an hour. We praised God when the temp came back as 97.9 F. She ate much better after than. I fed her (she is now again breastfeeding with little objection) at 11:30pm and then climbed into bed at 12:30am. I woke up at 4:00am to see her sleeping peacefully. I awoke her and she ate very well again. We both went back to sleep and I woke up with Matthew at 6:30am! A very good night for week one.

Here's the week in photos.

Meeting her grandparents.


Hanging out in the hospital.


All ready to go home!


Finally at home.