4 (and 1/2) months

Joshua turned four months on September 2nd.  Time is going so fast.  He has grown into such a sweet little boy.  Nowadays he is such an easy going baby and loves to smile!  If you come in his view he automatically gives you a big ear to ear grin.  He always has a smile for Sarah and she has even gotten him to giggle a couple times.  He is content to just lay on the floor as long as he is in the middle of all the action.  We havent started any solids yet but he loves to sit in the high chair during dinner and watch us eat.  He is taking about two naps a day and only getting up about once a night.  He pretty much rolls over to his stomach every night and seems content to stay that way.  He hair is starting to lay down and has gotten much lighter.  I think he will be a blonde like Abby.  He still doesn't like pacifiers or bottles.  At his four month appointment he was 14 lbs 12 oz  (50%) and 26 1/4 inches long (80%). 

Ballet Class

Sarah started taking ballet class with her friend Lily last week. She was so excited! The class is perfect for her and it is really cute to see Lily and her together. And the best part is that Heather and I can carpool and take turns watching the little ones and taking the big girls!

And just for comparision, Lily and Sarah just 3 short years ago!!

Fun with a blanket

Who needs toys when you have a big white blanket and a sister to share it with?

New Bike

Sarah riding her new bike!

My dad was here to help her out!

Virginia Beach

At the beginning of August the kiddos and I packed up and got on a plane to go visit my family in Virginia Beach.  Thankfully my sister flew out here to help me with all the kids on the plane and my dad flew back with us.  They were both such a big help!  Everybody did a pretty good job on the plane and we survived with only a couple of meltdowns.  While we were in Virginia Beach we were able to celebrate my niece's 3rd birthday.  We went to the beach, swam in the pool and visited the Virginia Aquarium. 

Off we go!

Zia and Josh on the plane

Taking a break to read after a day at the beach!

The only pic we got of all four the kiddos

Watching the waves with Opa

Two Months Old!

I can't believe that Josh is already two months old (well really he is a week away from being 3 months old but this post is a little late)!  He is such a sweet and smiley little baby (well at least for his mama!)  He was pretty fussy for the first 6 weeks of life but has since gotten much better.  He is now only getting up once or twice a night which makes me feel like a normal person again!  It is amazing how great a 4 hour stretch of sleep can be!  His favorite thing is swinging and smiling at his mama.  He just loves to sit in my lap and smile back at me.  He is still not a fan of bottles or pacifiers.  I've tried to leave him in the church nursery twice but that has been a failure but he'll get it eventually.   He usually smiles when Sarah comes around and looks terrified when Abby comes up to him.  Which you really can't blame him since she has sat on his head numerous times! 
At his two month appointment he was in the 60th percentile for weight (12 lbs 12 oz) and the 85th (24 1/4 in) for height.  His hair is getting lighter and is still as crazy as ever.  It will not lay down!
He is growing up so fast and I can't wait to see his little personality develop!  Here are some pictures of his sweet smile!

Ok mom, I'm done now.

Watch out world.....

Here is a glimpse fourteen years in the future.  You might want to stay off the roads.   
(Sarah is looking at a map and trying to find the park.)

Cousin Maddy comes to visit!

Over my birthday we were lucky enough to have my sister, niece and dad and stepmom come to visit.  Sarah was so excited to see Cousin Maddy and the girls had so much fun together! 

On my birthday we took the family to the local fish fry in town.  The fish fry is only open on Friday nights in the summer.  They have a live band and a really cool bridge to run on!  Click on the link below to see a video of Abby dancing and the girls running across the bridge. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csay9lwjZeA

Doesn't stand a chance

Poor guy doesn't stand a chance against his two sisters.   I love his expression in these photos.  I'm certain he is saying, "Stop taking pictures mom and save me!"

Life with three....

Joshua turned 6 weeks old yesterday and boy has it been a busy six weeks.  Our transition has gone smoothly and everyone seems to be adjusting well.  People often ask me what it is like with three and the best way to describe it is busy!  But it is a good busy.  I haven't been overwhelmed (yet!)  but I am definitely tired!  Little Joshua certainly likes his momma especially during the hours of 1-7 am :)
So far I have gone to the grocery store by myself with all three and made it out with all three kids fairly happy.  We have also survived three nights by myself while Cam was out of town for work.  Now not to say that everything is smooth sailing we have had our meltdowns and twice this weekend we got somewhere and realized we forgot to bring shoes for the girls!  Oops!  But God truly has blessed us with three beautiful children and I am trying to enjoy the busyness (and sleeplessness) as I know it will pass by quickly!  Here are some pictures of our three little monkeys:

Family Picture (Well an attempt...)

All five of us

Add caption

Lost one child and apparently Abby's foot is tasty.

If in doubt take a picture with the one child that doesn't move.

Joshua Stone Land

Joshua Stone Land arrived in quite the fashion on Monday, May 2nd.  Apparently Joshua does not like to waste time and once he was ready to come he came!   Here is a timeline of the events of the morning:
4:30 am-  Water Breaks. My water also broke with Sarah first and I ended up not having contractions and having to go to the hospital and put on pitocin.  I figured it would be about the same with this one so I went downstairs and had a bowl of cereal.  I decided not to wake up Cam yet and I'd let him sleep. 

4:45 am-  Start having contractions and timing them.  They are about 7 minutes apart.

5:00 am-  Contractions are getting stronger so I decide I should wake up Cam and take a shower. 

5:30 am-  Call Sonya and let her know the girls will be coming over early that morning.  Then contine getting ready and getting all the last minute stuff together for the girls.  Still taking our time.  The contractions are getting stronger and probably about 4 minutes apart.  Figured still had plenty of time.

6:30 am- Arrive at Sonyas house to drop off the girls.  I realize at this point that the contractions are getting a lot faster and closer together.  This is the first time I was worried that we might have waited a little too long! 

6:35 am- Drive to the hospital and realize that I have not called the doctor...oops!  Use google text to find the number and call the doctor to let them know we are on the way.

6:50 am-  Arrive at the hospital.  Cam drops me off at the entrance and I run in to check-in.

7:00 am-  They finally get me into triage after signing random papers.  This whole time I was in a lot of pain and having lots of contractions. They check me and tell me that I am at 6 cm.  When I checked into the hospital with Abby, I was also at 6 cm.  Cam and I were then relieved that we still had a couple of hours and I would probably be able to get an epidural.  However the contractions were a lot stronger than they were with Abby at this point and coming a lot faster.  With Abby they finally had to break my water late into the labor, but with Joshua my water had already broken.  In my experience contractions when your water has broken are so much stronger!

7:05 am-  Finally arrive in labor room.  Nurses are running around frantically trying to get everything ready so I can get an epidural.  At this point though there is hardly any relief from the contractions and they are getting very strong.  I just kept saying...."These are so much stronger" and "Why do they hurt so much?" 

7:15 am-  After 10 minutes of those I start to feel a lot of pressure.  I tell the nurse and she says to just let her know if I have the urge to push.  I tell her I definitely have the urge to push.  She checks me and says that I am complete.  No time for epidural..time to have a baby.

7:18 am- Doctor arrives.  She literally drove from her house and walked straight into my room to have me start pushing.

After about 3 hours of labor, 30 frantic minutes in the hospital and 2 pushes Joshua Stone Land arrived at 7:21 am.  He weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and was 21 inches long. 

Here are some picture of our sweet little "blue" bundle of joy! 

Happy Easter!

We had a very quiet Easter with just the four of us.  We went to church on Saturday night so Sunday we just hung around the house and found Easter eggs and Easter baskets.  It was a very relaxing day!  As you can tell they were very excited to open their Easter presents.  Thanks to all the grandparents for the gifts!
I'm 39 weeks today and still waiting for Blue Baby to arrive.  The past three days Sarah has told me he will come tomorrow....hopefully eventually one of those "tomorrows" will be correct!  I'm not uncomfortable so I guess we'll give him till his due date to arrive ;)  I was already 3 cm when I went to the doctor on Monday so at least I'm making progress.  Hopefully my next post will be about our new little guy. 

More Pictures

No theme for this post just pictures of the girls around the house. 



Eating her favorite-Yogurt!



Who's not happy when you're making brownies?

Baby Goliath

Well I am officially 38 weeks today.  There should be only about two weeks left until baby Goliath will make his appearance or if he follows in his stister's footsteps he will arrive tomorrow! I haven't blogged much about this pregnancy mainly because it has gone so fast! I can't believe he is almost here and we will have three kids three and under...yikes! So far it has been a fairly easy pregnancy despite nausea at the beginning and the occasional heartburn. I had an ultrasound at 32 weeks and the ultrasound tech told me that he had lots of hair and big feet. He should fit right in with the family! We still have not decided on a name and if we don't think of one soon he just might be named Goliath! Right now his favorite thing to do is to kick my bladder late at night and stretch out as much as he can in his tiny little space. We can't wait to meet him and see what he looks like! I don't know if I have ever posted a belly pic on here but since inquiring minds want to know here is a picture of me at 33 weeks and 37 weeks....incidently the only "belly shots" I've taken this pregnancy.

33 weeks



37 weeks