Happy Birthday Evan

Evan came home for a few days, for Nathan's birth. He was gone during his birthday. I almost went ahead on his birthday and baked him a birthday cake and then was going to call him and have all the kids sing "happy birthday" to him over the phone, but then I thought otherwise. The last thing I needed to do was upset the kids. So, when Evan came home, my mother-in-law baked a cake, Taneal frosted it, and we celebrated Evan's birthday . . . late. Happy Birthday Evan!

Cord Care

Usually my children take about three weeks to loose their cords. A doctor once told me that if they took much longer to loose their cord, it COULD be a sign of a bigger problem. If it takes too long, maybe their immune system isn't working properly and doesn't fight infections like it should. All my babies have lost their cords in ample time, but it does take a while.

I have heard in 3rd world countries that mothers actually put cow dung on their babies cords and the cord falls off within a day. It again is the bodies way of fighting infection. Of course I would never put poop on my babies cord, but I found that interesting.

This time the hospital told me to leave Nathan's cord alone, not to put alcohol on it like I have been instructed to do with my other children (unless the area gets red). So, I thought I would give it a try. And guess what? The cord fell off in a week and a half. Maybe there is some truth the the cow dung thing!

My New Family

I can hardly believe all these children are mine! I have FIVE children! I had all the kiddos loaded into the mini van and all the seat belts were in use when I think at that moment it really hit me. I am responsible for all these children. I love them all so much and so individually, but wow! what a responsibility. And wow! How I have been blessed!

Midwifery

I was able to deliver Spencer without an epidural, but it wasn't such a pleasant experience. I labored on my own, and it hurt! It wasn't a long labor, but I wasn't able to enjoy the delivery like I wanted. For Nathan, I switched doctors to one that was a little closer to my house, and in the practice they had a midwife. This caught my attention. I don't like putting all the medications in my body, especially having a needle inserted into my back. i wanted to have this baby medication-free, but I knew I didn't want to labor on my own like I had with the last birth. Plus, God gave me a body specially created for having children. I wanted to see what my body could do. So I met with the midwife and really liked her philosophy. It was my birth done my way. She only delivered at the hospital, she had been a labor and delivery nurse for ten years and then went to midwifery school for two more. She has had a lot of experience delivering babies. She was so calm. And, she wanted to do it my way!

When I found out Nathan was breech, I was 36 weeks. Danielle had been breech and I had to have the version done with her, so I knew what my choices were. A version that is risky, or a c-section. I remember thinking after Danielle had to be turned that I would not do that again. I would have a c-section. The risk was too high and I also had read too much on the Internet. So, when I had the ultrasound and then met with the midwife right after, I was of course bawling. She spent all the time I needed consoling me and putting my concerns at ease. She was so great. Of course now I knew that I couldn't have the baby completely natural because I would have to be induced or c-section.

The problem at this point was that my fluids were low. So, I was told be stay down and rest. My mom came into town for a week so that I could stay down. It was such a blessing because my fluids did increase, allowing a successful version.

Having a midwife deliver my baby was a wonderful experience. She stayed by my side (or at my back) the entire labor and delivery. She knew the pressure points to push to relieve the contractions, helped me with the breathing, showed me different positions, and made the delivery the way I wanted it to be. Heavenly Father made our bodies so amazing.

One of the things that my midwife is doing is making a book of all her deliveries. She has the mother write a message of what labor and birth mean to her. On the opposite page she has the babies feet prints. She is going to keep this in her office for other mothers-to-be to look at and also a way of keeping a journal of all her deliveries. She asked me to think about and write down what labor and birth means to me. While I spent the two days in the hospital holding this precious new baby, I thought a lot about what labor and birth mean to me. i am not very eloquent with my words, but this is what I came up with: Labor is a gift from God. Not only did He send us a precious baby, but He created our bodies as the tool by which He sends these miracles to us.

After having just gone through this amazing experience, I'm curious how you would answer the same question: What does labor and birth mean to you?

Acts of Kindness

I have been so blessed to live where I live and have the friends and family that I have. Evan started his new job the last week of July. The day he left for training, I was told to rest. I was really worried about how I was going to manage on my own until training was over. I called my mom and she came the next day and stayed with me and the children until Nathan was born. She did all my errands for me, grocery shopped, cleaned on my house, and made sure I stayed down. During that time, friends and people from church brought meals in. Another friend's husband mowed my lawn. I had so many concerned phone calls. Family and friends came over and took my kids to get them out of the house. I had so much help! The day Nathan was born my mother-in-law flew in from California and stayed two weeks. She let me get naps every day, did grocery shopping, put the kids down to bed every night, and spent hours after hours reading books and playing games with the kids. My sister-in-law and her children came during my doctor's appointment and cleaned my house! My neighbors took my three girls to church with them along with their own three. I have had so much help. My recovery has been great and with all the people taking my children allowing me to grocery shop and rest, I feel so blessed! My nephews are taking care of my lawn for me! My home-teachers came over Sunday night and gave my girls their back-to-school blessings! There are so many great people near that genuinely want to help.The Lord has sent so many people to help and I feel so blessed. I am being taken care of. I have not being left to do this alone, I have Heavenly Father's help and the sweet friends and family that He has sent to help me.

Nathan

We have been so blessed to have this new baby in our home. I absolutely love to hold me newborns and love the warm spirit that comes with them. Nathan has been a wonderful baby. I have been so blessed! He is very happy and sleeps so well. The last two nights he has slept five-hour stretches, only waking once to eat. Never have I had a baby do that for me so early on. I really feel that Havenly Father knows my situation and is watching over me and helping me with this new baby.

Nathan's birth went so well. I showed up at the hospital Saturday morning. They were a little busy so I had to wait for the operating room to become available, just in case the version did not go well. Around noon they were finally able to come in and turn the baby. It was so weird. The doctor and the midwife both worked together and put oils on my belly and turned Nathan around like you would turn the hands on a clock. Yah, it hurt, but they were successful and it was fairly quick. No need to use the operating room! Yay! The doctor left and my midwife stayed with me until the birth. Because of the version, I had to be induced, but because of that, Evan was able to be there for the birth. Funny how things work out. If the baby hadn't been breech, I would have gone into labor on my own (which I was set on doing) and Evan would have missed the birth. Because of the complications, he was able to be there, which was wonderful. I couldn't have imagined having one of our babies without Evan being there.

Around 1pm they started the pitocin. The labor got intense, but the midwife was there rubbing my back, helping me through the contractions with breathing and using a birthing ball. It was amazing. I know you quickly forget things after labor, but only about an hour was intense. Only about 15 minutes was I rethinking natural labor. I think I asked for an epidural about the time I was fully dilated, and the midwife was so nice and didn't tell me "no" even though it was too late. But I was so set on not having one that I asked and then said I didn't want one. Five minutes later Nathan was born. It was amazing. He was so beautiful. He was so sweet. And he was finally here, perfect. And Evan was able to help deliver Nathan. Welcome, Nathan! We are so glad you are here and that everything went so well.

Nathan Stephen Black

Nathan was born Saturday, August 9th at 3:44 pm. He weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. They were able to successfully turn Nathan externally, which meant I had a normal delivery and Evan was able to be there! All turned out so well. The delivery was about three hours, and I have the most beautiful baby boy.

My computer hard drive crashed, so i am still out of a computer for another week. my good friend is letting me use her computer, so I will keep this short and post more later. Thanks for all your prayers. I couldn't have asked for a more successful delivery.

Baby updates

I had another ultrasound today. Baby is still breech. Frank breech, which means it is sitting on its bum with its feet up. This last week of staying down helped a bit because my amniotic fluid levels are up, within the normal range, allowing an inversion on . . . . Saturday.

Yes, Saturday in two days from now!

I am scheduled to go in Saturday for an inversion. If they are successful and can turn this little guy, I can have the baby normal. If they are not able or if I go into labor on my own before Saturday, the baby will come c-section. Not the way I want to go. Hopefully they can turn the baby and I can have it normal which will mean recovery will be so much faster. I was hoping to go into labor all on my own, but this baby has something else in mind.

So tomorrow is the last day I will be pregnant. I'm not sure I'm ready. I have mixed emotions. Strange, huh? I was induced with Spencer and felt the same way. At first I was excited and then a little anxious, and then just feeling not quite ready. I'm still very excited to see and meet my new baby, but it feels strange that the end of this pregnancy is here.

Breech baby updates

This last week I have spent "down". From what my doctor told me and then talking to many of you, staying down should help increase my amniotic fluid which should help the baby be able to be turned if he doesn't turn on his own. From home I have been trying different techniques hoping to get the baby to turn, tomorrow I will find out if it has been helpful. I have an ultrasound in the afternoon. If the baby is still breech, we will schedule an induction for next week in which they will try to turn the baby and then induce labor. If they are successful in the turn, I will be able to have this baby normal, although I will have to be induced. If they are unsuccessful, they will do a c-section. Or, maybe I will get lucky and the baby will have turned on his own and I can have the baby naturally.

So many acts of service have been rendered in my behalf this week. Dinner has been brought in, my lawn was mowed for me, friends have watched my children, and I have had amazing support. My mom dropped everything and came to help me be able to stay down. Evan has been gone with his new job and has felt so bad having to leave me, but knows I have been taken care of. Thanks to all of you for your love and support. I am so grateful and so blessed.

Computer Problems

Over the last week I have been trying to access my pictures on my computer so I could post things like the Pioneer dresses my mom made my girls for Pioneer Day and also pictures from Danielle's birthday, but to no avail. I finally called my computer savy brother and as I was rebooting my computer, I got the "blue screen of death" as my brother calls it. My computer completely crashed. My mom is here visiting, so I am able to use her laptop, but it contains none of my pictures, etc. I am going to be mailing my computer to my brother in hopes of him being able to back-up my data and restore the computer, but until then, I won't be online much. Plus, with the baby coming at any time, who knows what will be going on. I will try to keep you up-dated on the progress of the baby and delivery. Until then . . .

This baby has a mind of its own!

I just returned from the doctor after having an ultrasound.

Breech.

Bottom down.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Danielle did this. Is it genetic? Why am I more inclined to have breech versus someone else? With Danielle, I went to the hospital and they performed an inversion and were able to turn her and immediately induce me. OUCH! Everything went fine. She came out screaming and has been spunky ever since. And, I had a lot of amniotic fluid so the inversion was "easy" (easy as far as inversions go).

Yah, I'm pretty low on the amniotic fluid. That makes inversions a little more difficult. I asked how I could increase my fluids. Rest. How do you do that with four small children? My mom is coming tomorrow so I can "rest". Hopefully all goes well. I'm not sure if having been through this before makes me more emotional or not. I think since I know what can happen and since I read up a lot on it after I had it happen with Danielle, it makes me nervous.

All will go well. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

You might be a red-neck if . . . .

Check out this fork-lift tractor. The guy that Evan has been doing some temp work for had an extra shed he wanted to get rid of, so Evan piped up that he was in need of a shed. If Evan could move it, he could have it. Not a big task, right? Well, at the construction site where Evan has been helping out (he has been working as a project manager), a fork lift tractor was regularly there. The job site is about a mile or so away from our house. So, Evan asked his boss if he could use the fork lift to get the shed to our house. Evan loaded the shed up, tied it down, and called me so I could follow behind him and keep traffic from rear-ending him. To get to our subdivision, you have to travel down a very busy road about 1/4 mile. Then, you turn into our subdivision and drive about another mile to the back of it. We looked pretty red-necked, or at least Evan did driving that tractor down the busy road and then through our subdivision trying not to slam into cars parked along the road and waving cars to pass us. It took us about 25 minutes to get home instead of the regular 5 minutes. It was kind of a fun adventure. Evan was so funny, he kept looking back at me with a grin. I think he really enjoyed himself (and got a free shed).

Unemployment is a thing of the past

Evan found a job! He was laid off from Wachovia along with 300 other employees back in November. Check the headlines and Wachovia's financial struggles are all over the headlines. It has been quite a struggle for us in finding new employment, especially employment not in sales. Evan has been in some kind of sales for 8 years now (and 8 years too long) and getting out of that niche with a salary that would support a family of almost 7 has been hard. But with a few connections, mainly the one from my brother, Dan, Evan was able to get a great job working for an oil company. We are very excited. Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers over the last several months.

Fun new tag

You can only type one word. Do the first word that comes to mind. I tag whoever wants to do it!

1. Where is your cell phone? car
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair? brown
4. Your mother? home
5. Your father? retired
6. Your favorite thing? chocolate
7. Your dream last night? none
8.Your dream/goal? happiness
9. The room you're in? diningroom/breakfast room
10. Your hobby? children
11. Your fear? injury/death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? family
13. Where were you last night? sleeping
14. What you're not? unemployed
15. One of your wish list items? camera
16. Where you grew up? Weatherford, TX
17. The last thing you did? eat
18. What are you wearing? maternity
19 Your TV? enemy
20. Your Pet? never
21. Your computer? blogging
22 Your mood? tired
23 Missing someone? husband
24 Your car? garage
25 Something you're not wearing? make-up
26 Favorite store? Hobby Lobby
27 Your summer? busy
28 Love someone? many
29 Your favorite color? brown
30 When is the last time you laughed? today
31 Last time you cried? today (remember I'm pregnant)

Now you do it, it's fun!

Memory Lane

I stole this from my friend, April's blog & thought it would be fun, so please play along.:)

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Chick-fil-a

So I did it. My sister-in-law posted about how Chick-fil-a was offering free food to those who dressed up like cows on Friday only. I took the kids swimming and afterwards came home, dressed everyone in black, white, or brown, taped spots on them, made them hat bands with ears and horn, and headed to Chick-fil-a with my friend, Mandy and her three children.

I was a little surprised. I figured I would walk into the store and they would roll their eyes at a pregnant mom and four children in for free food. Instead, they all started clapping, took our picture, and let us order whatever we wanted. It was fun. I was glad Mandy came with me, a little support, and a great person to hang out with.

Taneal and Camie were actually embarrassed. They wouldn't drive around in our mini-van with their ear and horn hats on. They ducked their heads in the parking lot and held that little grin like "this is fun but a little embarrassing." They were great troopers, enjoyed their free lunch with a real soft drink instead of water, and had fun on the play equipment afterwards.

Thanks Chick-fil-a and Gerberta for a free lunch and the fun that came with dressing up like cows!

Who is missing?

I thought I would try a new template for my blog, http://leeloublogs.blogspot.com/ and of course anytime you try anything new there are always quirks. Getting the new template managed to delete all my links to all my friends and family. I tried as hard as I could to find all my old links, but I know I am still missing several. So, if I don't have you linked on the side bar, please leave a comment with your blog address so I can get you linked up. Thanks!

Cake Decorating?

My friend, Jana, and I had this great idea of learning about cake decorating. I took all the Wilton classes before Taneal was born, so I know a little. Since Jana wanted to learn some things and she has three children and I have four and doing anything this summer includes all of them, we decided to bake them all little cakes and let them do some decorating as well.

Good idea? NOT!!!!!!

It was chaos at my house! The kids were having so much fun decorating, or shall I say eating the frosting.The kids were all oblivious to the chaos, and were having a terrific time. Somehow I managed to forget that small children can't sit and watch instruction and then do it on their on. They ALL need hands-on help. However, they quickly adjusted to the fact that there were only two very pregnant and tired moms and seven children and they were just going to have to experiment on their own. Between the plops of greasy frosting on the floor and the cake decorating tips being licked and sucked and then squirted onto the cake and the vast sharing of germs, all was well. Jana and I finally sat back and just starting giggling wondering "what were we thinking?" It was worth the mess because the kids had so much fun, but I don't think I would be willing to do a repeat.

The kiddos seriously had a great time and were so proud of their finished cakes. Josh, Jana's oldest, decorated his cake for his mom. He wrote on it, "happy labor." Jana had to ask him if that was really what he wrote and he confirmed that it was. He couldn't understand why we were laughing. We tried not to, but, well . . . I don't know. We were so caught off guard it was funny. He is such a thoughtful boy.

Danielle proud of her cake!

I made templates and then put them in a Ziploc bag for the kids to practice on. It was easy to wipe off and practice again.

Camie practicing and then showing off her finished cake.

Taneal hard at work.

Spencer was even interested. He didn't decorate his own cake but enjoyed squeezing the frosting out and tasting.

Josh with his "happy labor" cake.

New pictures

It's all done! I like to get my children's pictures made around their birthdays. Well, Spencer just had his, Danielle's is at the end of the month, and I didn't really have Camie's pictures made other then her school pictures and they could have been better. I usually wait and do all different settings so I can use the $9.99 coupons. Well, I'm tired. I found this place that I could do all the pictures at once, no coupons or sitting fees, and I ended up spending about what I do when I break up all the visits. Only I got it all done in one visit (I had Taneal's made for her baptism so she was already done). It is so nice to have their pictures done for a while, at least for two months until the baby comes. I hope you enjoy. I really liked how the pictures turned out.

A Pioneer Park

No, we aren't in Utah at their Pioneer Park, but there is a park around this area that has a remake of when the pioneers settled this area. There was a Pioneer house with the chicken coop, out house, outdoor oven, smoke house, barn, ice house, etc and right around the corner an Indian village. My friend has been there before and invited us. The kids had so much fun. They loved looking at the "Mary and Laura" house with the loft and everything and then pumping the water and checking out the wagons in the barn. They had a lot of fun even in the blistering heat. I did not bring enough water even though I thought I had way over-shot on it.

My favorite comment from Camie. I asked her if the pioneer house was large. It had the loft in it, but on the main floor, it was one room with a fire place and barely fit a bed and some chairs. It was small, but I wanted to hear her opinion. Camie said, "Mom, your closet is bigger then the whole house!" I don't think that my closet is, but boy we have come along way since the time of the pioneers!

Taneal and Camie's bedroom

I have always wanted to decorate my girl's bedroom but have never really had the chance, we've always rented. Until now. I've never even really had the opportunity. Until now. So, over the last almost year since we bought our home, I've been thinking through things, gathering ideas, etc. and I finally decided to take the plunge and decorate their room. Evan said "NO" to any paint, what was wrong with the new paint on the walls already? I tried and tried to convince him, but he wouldn't budge on the idea. So, I pulled color into their room in other ways. Hopefully it wasn't overdone, the girls love it, and I had fun doing it.


I started out with Camie's blanket shown in the picture on the bottom bunk. I hand drew picture of bugs and flowers. They are definitely hand-drawn and very imperfect. I appliqued them onto the quilt. My mom helped me finish it. Then came Taneal's quilt. I wanted it to match, but Taneal wanted it different. So, we brainstormed together, she free-handed some items such as the lipstick and the perfume bottle and we designed her quilt. My job was to transfer the hand-drawings onto fabric, applique them and then make the quilt. That is what I have been doing over the last two months. I had fun and I am pleased with the results as is Taneal. Then came the curtains. They were fun and simple to make. Jana, my neighbor, helped me with the ideas on them. Of course after I got them hung I realized they need to be lined. That will be my next project. And finally, I modged-podged the magnetic boards with scrapbook paper. It was so much fun. They turned out a little too bright, but the girls absolutely love them and they add quite a splash of color to the room. So, besides lining the curtains and somehow decorating the lamp shade (if you have any ideas on how to do a lamp shade, please share), I should be done. Their room took a lot of time but it was so much fun doing it. Of course maybe it wouldn't have taken quite so much time if I had a little more energy and could stay up past the kiddos at night, but what can I say? Even a tired momma can get the job done, just quite a bit slower.

The magnetic boards are different to match the different fabric appliqued on their quilts.

The girls were really insistent on the pillows. They wanted their names on them with a letter designed to match the applique on their quilts. They insisted on a roll pillow and absolutely HAD to have an envelope pillow. Funny kids!

A Day at the Beach

All of my family living somewhat close came into town for Taneal's baptism a day early so we could go to the beach. Well, it was super windy and the beach was at a level red, which meant you could not go in the water higher then your knees. For a child, that is pretty shallow. Evan was ready to turn around and head home, but the rest of us convinced him that even if we couldn't get into the water, it would still be fun to play in the sand.

I think it must have calmed down pretty soon after we arrived because the waves didn't seem so strong and as long as my girls were wearing life vests, I felt comfortable with them going out a little further and the life guards were letting them. I ventured out deeper, but the waves were crashing up against me pretty hard and I started to have more contractions then what I was comfortable having. I ended up sitting in the shallow area for hours while Danielle and Spencer played around me. They had a lot of fun splashing and picking up sand and throwing it at my brother, Rob. They were a lot of fun to play with. We ended up staying about 5 hours and had a great time.
Of course it seems like every time we go to the beach, regardless of how much sun screen we use, we always end up getting burnt. My children fared very well, I don't think any of them got sun burned. Camie's cheeks got a little pink and my legs got burnt (I think Danielle and Spencer rubbing sand on my legs must have worn the sunscreen off). Because of my history with skin cancer, I bought all my children swim shirts which helped tremendously.

I can't say the same for the rest of the family. My niece Rebecca ended up at the doctor because of the blisters and swelling on her face and back. She didn't use sunscreen at all.

I guess we all learn the hard way.

We had a great time and hopefully we can go again together next summer.


Spencer
Stephenie sitting in the shallow area with my Dad while Danielle and Spencer play around us.















Danielle


















Camie playing in the ocean.


















Taneal enjoying her lunch.



Evan building a sand castle with Taneal