Road Trippin' to see the Granparents

Harper took her first trip down to Mulberry last week. It was very impromptu, but Chris was out of town, and we had the third round of bad tornadoes coming through. (Chris has impeccable timing being gone during bad weather...he's missed the last three major blizzards in the last two years!) I generally do not get too nervous about tornadoes after growing up in "tornado alley", but after seeing Joplin AND having three kids of my own, it's a little more sobering. So, we decided to head south and spend the night with Paw Paw and his partially underground house. It was quite the adventure as he was in the middle of having most of his floors redone, but we made due and made some memories in the process! Chris' brother's family spent the night there too, so we were on mattresses in halls, bathrooms and the laundry room. I didn't sleep much, but we were safe. AND the boys got to take 4-wheeler rides the next day with Paw Paw to see all the animals, so in their mind it was the perfect trip.
Last weekend was Chris and I's 7 year anniversary, so we made a quick trip to Stillwater so my parents could watch the kids while we celebrated. We were able to eat an amazing dinner just the two of us and carry on an entire conversations without being interrupted! So nice! We then got Harper who stayed at the hotel with us since she's still not a fan of the bottle, but she was a gem and slept till 7 that next morning. (it's funny how perspective changes...now it's a vacation having just one kid and "sleeping in" till 7!) The three of us had a big buffet breakfast, I was able to take a jog around my alma mater's campus, and I even went back to bed just because I could! I think Harper enjoyed the day too b/c she was the center of attention and didn't get mauled once! It really was a relaxing 17 hours. Thanks, mom and dad, for taking care of the boys and letting us do that!

Catching up...

I've had a hard time keeping up with the fun events in our world lately. I've lost my camera, but I finally got all the pictures off of my phone and onto my computer. The kids are doing great. It feels like we're starting to get into the groove of things somewhat. The boys still adore their sister, and I am still saying "GENTLE" about a million times a day. She gets this look on her face like she's bracing herself for some pummeling whenever they get close.
A splash park that is about a half a mile from our house opened up two weeks ago, and I am pretty sure it's going to be my favorite place to go to this summer. Water and no fear of drowning. Sign me up! The boys have loved it so far, and I am still finding it very entertaining watching them get sprayed in the face and then squeal in delight.
Grandma Debbie came into town last weekend to watch the kids while Chris and I went to The Heart Gala. While she was here, we enjoyed taking her out for a belated Mother's Day breakfast, and the boys tried to steal every minute of playing with her that they could. Harper also got some good bonding time with Grandma as she waited up for me to come home that night and feed her! (we've got to work on taking a bottle)
It's been really fun watching the boys become friends lately. They most definitely have their moments, but overall they've really seemed to enjoy playing together as we've been at home more than usual. They love pretending to be the Kratt Brothers (characters from a PBS show) and becoming different animals. They've recently been setting up campsites all over the house, complete with "food" and tents. We found them a few mornings ago out of their beds (before they were supposed to be), hiding behind their curtains, "camping" together. It was pretty hard to get on to them because they were so cute together! I pray they continue to be friends as they grow up...

She loves her Daddy...

2 Months Old

My little girl turned two months old this weekend. It's gotten to the point where I can't remember life without her around. She's continued to be the best baby ever. In fact she slept from 8:00 to 4:30 this morning for me, and I had to give her a big 'ole kiss for that. Last week she started smiling - one of my favorite milestones. We still have to work at earning it a little, but the work is definitely is worth it! She's working at getting her hands into her mouth...it looks more like she's punching herself in the face! And this past weekend she was left with her first baby sitter. Chris and I had a "gala/event" to go to, so we called in Grandma Debbie to watch the kids. (I'm still not ready for just anyone to watch my baby girl!) Harper did great, but she didn't take a bottle...she is not a fan. We may need to start working on that...

A Good Weekend

We had a fun and full weekend this past weekend. It started out on Friday afternoon with a Family Day at Chris' work. The boys had a blast eating cotton candy, hot dogs, and candy, as well as playing basketball and jumping in a jump house. They know how to do it right over at Kraft. Saturday morning was the Race for the Cure. Chris' mom is a breast cancer survivor, so we all wanted to support the cause. I had to go early to meet some friends, and Chris, being the super dad that he is, managed to get out the door with all three kids and to the race by 7:30 that morning. Yes, he is amazing! The turn out was incredible, and it was so fun walking with family and friends. The rest of the day was beautiful, and the boys spent pretty much all of it outside mowing, weed-eating and playing with the neighbors. I was able to get dinner that night with some friends, and then Sunday was spent catching up on sleep.
Harper joined in on most of the festivities. She got a great nap while Chris wore her for the walk! I am so thankful for how easy she has been. She had her 6 week check up this past week, and she's up to 10 pounds (mostly in her cheeks!).

Happy Easter!

Easter Sunday was a bit insane because Chris had to help set up at church. I didn't manage to get a picture of the kids before we (barely) made it out the door, and by the time we got home they were ready to be done with dressing up. BUT I did manage to get a few quick pictures...much to their disdain! We also were able to start the tradition of "resurrection rolls". (you put marshmellows dipped in butter and sugar and wrap them in crescent rolls. Bake them and the marshmellow melts...similar to Jesus' body leaving the burial cloths...) Anyway, the boys loved making them and thought it was so crazy that the marshmellows were gone. It provided a great way to talk about Jesus' resurrection from the dead! (and they tasted really good too!) We had Easter dinner with our buds the Harris' later that evening, but I forgot my camera. So sad!

Healthy

It's been a good last two weeks as we've all enjoyed being healthy. The boys seem to be adjusted to our new way of life for the most part. They're back to their goofy selves... Owen continues to crack us up as he is always in his own little world. He does not seem to care one bit about playing with other kids - he's always on his own mission of grilling, mowing or doing something productive. Ethan continues to be my little melancholy artist...he's started drawing again, and he can entertain himself for hours as he plays with his "action figures" or pretends to be a Wild Kratt (his newest television obsession). Harper has started sleeping in her crib, finally, and seems to be getting into a nice little routine. She loves laying on the floor and watching everything around her. It's nice having a baby that's content by herself since I have two others to keep up with!
Two weekends ago, my wonderful friends threw Harper a beautiful baby shower. The food was amazing, it was decorated beautifully, and it was so fun getting baby girl clothes! Harper and I felt very loved! Thanks, guys!
That same weekend, we threw our neighbors the Chuas a going-away-cookout. They have lived here the past year for a job, but it was time for them to head back to San Francisco. We had a great time eating good food, watching the neighborhood girls put on a show for us, and talking with our neighbors.

1 Month Old

Wow...what a blur the last month has been! Harper has had an eventful first month of life! It started out with the day after she was born, Owen got a stomach bug and was really sick for 24 hours. Thankfully, the rest of us stayed healthy, but it was an adventure juggling a throwing up toddler, a doctor visit, and a day old baby. She had her Mimi stay the first week of her life with us, and we all were VERY sad to see Mimi go. Chris took a couple days off after my mom left, and when he went back to work the three kids and I braved our first major outing to Jump Zone. It went swimmingly...until a day later when we realized that Ethan and two other kids we were there with came down with a stomach bug from hell. It took Ethan six days to be able to keep any fluid in him, and in the meantime he passed it on to Chris and Owen. In between nursing Harper, I was doing laundry and disinfecting like a mad woman! Chris lost 8 pounds in three days, and at one point said, "I think this is the hardest week of our marriage." Good times. After 10 days of the horrid illness, we managed to get into the swing of things. The one thing I can say from that time was that it makes having three HEALTHY kids seem really easy! I guess it's all about perspective!

In between all the sickness, Harper had her first photo shoot. I had never done infant pictures of the boys, so I thought it would be fun to at least do one thing new with my third born! Harper was a little champ during the hour shoot. She did leave her mark though...I had left the room to get Owen and came back to the photographer holding Harper while covered in Harper's poop. She'd managed to cover the back drop and everything! I guess what do you expect when you put a naked baby on a heating pad for over an hour, huh?!? We did get some incredible pictures. Thanks, Chelsea, and sorry about your clothes and blanket!

The boys seem to be acclimating pretty well. They both adore their little sister. Owen calls her "Harper Waine, my baby sister", and Ethan is constantly laying next to her talking to her and patting her belly. She is going to be one taken care of little girl. She has already been accidentally stepped on (just her hand), been introduced to light saber action, and lightly punched (all in fun, of course), so she's going to have to be really tough too.

Harper has been such a sweet and easy baby. Really all she does is eat, sleep and make lots of grunting noises. She's very content laying in her bouncy seat watching the boys or sleeping. She's gained weight like a champ - at her 2 week check she weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and then at her month check she weighed 9 lbs 1 oz. All our hard work is paying off! The last two nights she's even stretched her sleeping out so she's waking up at 1 am and then at 5 am. I can do that! I am finally starting to get comfortable with all the accessories that go with a little girl..sort of. I haven't ventured into tights or bloomers yet, but I have loved the little head bands that she wears. Baby steps, I guess. :) It's still a little surreal that I have a daughter, but I am loving every minute of it so far!

Can you tell which one is which?

I have been hearing that Harper looks a lot like her brothers. Mostly Ethan. I have seen some Owen in her too, so out of curiousity I decided to find pictures of them them all about the same age. This is all three kids at about 10 days old. I had forgotten that the boys did have some hair at that age - I just hope Harper keeps hers as opposed to going for the "old man" look!

The first two weeks...

Tomorrow is Harper's 2 week birthday, and it's been a fun last two weeks getting to know her. My parents left last weekend, and Chris went back to work on Tuesday, so the boys and I are working at figuring out how to function with me waaay outnumbered now! It's been a really good week - we've had enough low key things to do so we don't go completely crazy being inside. Harper is settling in to somewhat of a schedule, and thanks to her sweet dad, I am figuring out to get chunks of sleep at night. (She is so loud that Chris takes her to a different room to sleep...he can amazingly sleep through anything!)

Harper had her two week check up yesterday with Jennifer, and she's doing great. She now weighs 7 pounds 8 ounces...all our hard work is paying off! She had new born pictures taken this week too. She did great until the end when she pooped all over the photographer. Awesome. She is having more periods of awake time, and she has a lot to soak in with her brothers running all over the place. They still adore her, thankfully!

Harper Laine

Harper Laine made her appearance into the world last week on March 19th at 7:08 in the morning! She weighed 6 pounds and 4 ounces, and everything about her birth was a testament to God's goodness and grace. We are in complete awe of how He worked out every little detail that we had been praying over...

The 19th was the date of the "super moon", and we had joked around how that would be what Harper to make her arrival. Well, I woke up about midnight and couldn't go back to sleep. At about 2:00 I felt a small pop and then my water broke. This was such a good sign because with a "false alarm" a few days earlier we were really hesitant to call our midwife and my parents and have everyone head this way yet again only to send them home. Water breaking was a pretty sure thing! Amazingly, after my water broke my contractions really didn't pick up for two hours. We were expecting fast and furious, but this was a blessing because it gave everyone time to get on the road, and it allowed me to get my head around what was happening. We pretty much took it easy until 4:00 and that's when it got fun. :)

My contractions really weren't horrible for the first hour or so. They came at about 10 minutes apart and lasted a minute and a half. About 5:30 I started getting weepy and I knew that we were entering "transition". I got into the tub shortly after that, and then my parents arrived shortly thereafter. I couldn't believe they made it...I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that they wouldn't be there, but God was good! I started pushing around 6:15, I think. It's the first time I didn't have doctors or nurses telling me I could/couldn't/when to push, and it was the best feeling to just allow my body to do the work when it was ready. The closer we got to 7:00, the more nervous I was that the boys were going to wake up and wonder what was going on. Owen consistently wakes up at 6:30, but this morning both boys didn't make a peep till 7:15. Seven minutes after Harper joined us. They were able to get out of bed, meet their new sister, and then go down stairs to my dad making them breakfast. Another "thank you, Lord!". When Harper did make her arrival, it was amazing seeing Jennifer catch her and then lay her in my arms. Once she got her first breath, I then allowed myself to make sure she was a girl, and that was a very cool moment. I have a daughter! Looking back, this was by far the best birthing experience I've had.

The after birth part was pretty crazy - in a good way. I was able to get into my own bed and let the midwives take care of me and Harper. I was really concerned about bleeding afterward b/c that would be the main reason we might need to transport to the hospital, but again, the Lord took care of that. My midwife said she'd never seen so little bleeding in the 350 babies she'd delivered. Craziness. Recovery this time around has been so easy, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I have been able to do it all in my own home.
Chris' dad was the first family to make it in to meet Harper, and I think she slept in his arms most of her first afternoon of life. Jon, Katie and kiddos showed up later that afternoon, and the boys were thrilled to have their cousins there to play with. Grandma Debbie wasn't able to come till a little later, but the boys hogged every minute of her time that she wasn't holding Harper!
With the first week under our belt, I fall a little more in love with my little lady every day. She's been SO easy. She is eating well, and sleeps well. When she gets hungry she starts grunting, which I prefer to crying, and her brothers adore her. They both have gotten really upset when she starts crying or seems to be in uncomfortable. I can only hope that this nurturing spirit continues!

Thank you to all who prayed with us. Seeing God answer our prayers even down to the little detail was so humbling. We feel so blessed to have this new little member in our family, and I look forward to posting many more entries about Harper Laine!

It has to be a girl...

It's been an interesting week as we wait for the arrival of Harper. She woke me up Sunday morning with an hour and a half of contractions, but they then stopped. Owen did the same thing only to come two days later, so we assumed we had a little bit of time. My parents were driving back from St Louis on Sunday and decided to come here just in case. Of course nothing happen Sunday or Monday night. I had my weekly appointment with Jennifer, my midwife, last night and we decided to give it another night before my parents headed back home. Harper woke me up at midnight and I started having contraction that last two minutes long, and this went on for two and half hours. We called Jennifer, woke up my mom, and decided this was the morning we'd get to meet Harper. Owen's labor was only 4 hours long, so we've been expecting something fast. Wrong. Harper is apparently not done primping. My labor stopped about 3:30 this morning... I'm dilated to a 3 and 75% effaced but she's so low Jennifer said it would really only take a few good contractions and two good pushes for her to come out.

So we wait.

Happiness

I wasn't paying attention while cleaning up dinner last night, and this is what I found when I turned around...one happy, naked boy on his "way to WalMart". He wasn't sure what I found so funny.

Home birth is a go...

We had our 36 week risk assessment appointment yesterday, and everything looks good for us to have Harper at home! The doctor said her head was so low that he couldn't really tell how dilated/effaced I was, but he didn't think it would be long before she made her arrival. He also mentioned being somewhat concerned that our midwife might not make it in time on several occasions. He told Chris to call him and he'd talk him through delivering the baby. Awesome. She's still "sunny side up", so we're praying that she flips before I go into labor... We set up the birthing tub last night, and while we were waiting for it to fill up, I decided to snap a few "belly shots". I can't believe I am posting them, but Leslie, I promised. :)

I am finally starting to understand how to channel Owen's desire to be doing something productive... Ethan has always played well by himself, and I haven't known what to do with Owen never leaving my side. Well, I finally had the idea to have him set the table for me. He set it plate by plate, and fork by fork, and was SO proud of himself. Now I just need to teach him how to really cook, and then I can stay out of the kitchen...

Let the coutdown begin...

Both boys have had their birthdays, and now it's time to think about Harper Laine Hoyle's birth day. If we are on the same delivery time frame as the boys were, we're looking at her coming around the 15th of this month. That's really soon... It seems like it's taken forever to get to this point, but now the time is flying by!

We had our home visit with our midwife last night. She came to see the house and where we're planning on doing most of the "work". We have all our birth supplies ready to go, and we will be picking up the birth tub this week... My "to do" list is virtually complete, and I all have yet to do is hang pictures on the nursery wall. This coming Monday is our 36 week risk assessment with my regular Doctor, and once he gives the "thumbs up", we're free to move forward with a home birth. It's still a little surreal to me that we're planning on having our baby at home, honestly. My biggest prayer right now is that the Lord will give Dr J discernment and wisdom to see if there any reason for us not to do this at home. But with his blessing (and lots of peace from the Lord), we feel really comfortable with our choice to have a home birth, and I am so incredibly excited to not have to drive to a hospital again in the middle of hard labor. We also adore our midwife, so that helps!

I am really curious to see how much I have progressed when I see Dr J next week. When our midwife palpated the baby last night, she said that Harper was verrrry low (I was not surprised) and probably at station zero. She also found it quite funny that the baby is measuring at about 5 pounds, but the head is measuring at the size of 7 pound baby. Awesome. The Dodson head prevails yet again... I guess it's a blessing that I go early b/c I cannot fathom delivering a big baby with a bigger head!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Owen!

We celebrated Owen's 2nd birthday last weekend, and it was the hardest party I've ever planned! Ethan has always had very focused, pretty conventional passions (ie: super heros, sports, etc), so I knew exactly what kind of party he's wanted. With Owen, though, it was hard to plan a lawnmower, grilling or cooking themed party! I ended up doing a "decorate your own cupcake party" with party favor aprons for the kids to wear, fun boxes to take your creations home in, and cupcake toppers of all things that Owen likes.
The highlight of Owen's day was getting a toy grill from his Grandma Debbie. He hardly left it to play with anyone else at the party, and anytime anyone would get close to the grill he'd yell, "No touch! Hot! Back out." He still won't let anyone near it... We finished the day off with a "cactor" (tractor) ride with my dad. I think Chris hopes his passion for lawn mowing continues WAY into his teenaged years.

It's hard to believe my "baby" is 2 now. He's been so fun to watch grown and get to know. Happy birthday, buddy!

Mud

The two feet of snow we got last week is virtually gone now. We've had 60 degree weather that has contributed to the rapid melting, and now we're left with mud everywhere! In Owen's opinion, mud is much more fun to play in than snow. He has an uncanny ability to find the biggest mud puddle and head straight for it. This particular day, he found so much joy in walking through it, I decided not to care. Sure enough, 45 minutes later and soaked clothes, he was one happy and muddy guy.

Snow Days

It's been snowing a lot around here in the last two weeks. I think the combined total of accumulation is 26". That's crazy for us Southerners. Chris has been out of town for all of it, and so the boys and I have had to be very creative surviving without being able to get out and do things. We've gotten several projects done while it's been snowy. The boys each painted their own canvas to hang up in their rooms. It was funny seeing their personalities come out in their paintings. Owen was done after about 5 minutes and was ready to go back to "cooking". He could not stand to have paint on his hands at all. Ethan took about 45 minutes and covered his entire canvas (and himself) in red paint. He had a whole story about how it's a view of Europe from outer space... They've also developed a new favorite game of getting every single cushion and pillow in the house and putting them all over the living room floor. They spent an entire morning in their pjs (and then underwear) running back and forth over the pillows. Whatever it takes, as far as I'm concerned! The past two weeks have also made me incredibly thankful for such amazing neighbors. Two different neighbors shoveled our driveway, which was a huge blessing for this pregnant lady. And I know the three of us wouldn't have survived without having several shared meals and play dates with the Crawford clan. What do people do in times like this when they don't have friends on the same street?!?

23 Months

As I am typing this entry, I can hear Owen in his bed alternating between singing "Holy, Holy, Holy" at the top of his lungs and yelling for his brother to wake up... (Amazingly, Ethan appears to still be asleep.) It's been another fun month with Owen. He survived his traumatic face plant into a paint can, and his face seems to be healing up really well. He still enjoys telling the story of the incident..."Brother hug. Fall. Bonk paint can. Cry." His poor Sunday school teacher heard that over and over again... He's started calling me "Cat Hoyle". There's nothing like hearing him yell, "Cat Hoyle. Come!" when he needs something. His stubbornness and single-mindedness continue to amaze me - he's virtually impossible to distract when he's got his mind set on something! That is balanced out, though, by his charm...he can make you feel like a million bucks when he says your name, runs up to you and asks for a hug and kiss. He also has yet to meet a stranger. I am starting to worry about his transition when his baby sister comes... He slept in the crib the other day when he wasn't feeling well, and when I went to get him out I told him we were done sleeping in Harper's bed. He looked at me, yelled, and then said, "No baby Harper. Me push her out. Punch. MY crib." Lovely.