Party of Five

So a couple of people have asked about Jericho's birth story. I decided it was pretty entertaining, so why not? I leave out gory details, thought, so have no fear. I try to forget those. ;) Although they are a little fresh in my mind at this point. With Tirzah's fast delivery (born within 2 hours of arriving at the hospital) I was expecting the same with Baby J. We were not disappointed.

Monday morning (the 2nd) I woke up at about 4 am and noticed that I was having cramps. No regular contractions, so I tried to ignore it. It kept up so about 5 am I decided to get up and take a bath. My go-to for dealing with pesky false labor, which I have lots of. This time no such luck. I got out of the bathtub and went back to bed at like 6:20. Billy woke up then and asked what was going on. I explained and be decided he was calling the doctor. (I think he wasn't wanting to deliver a baby.) I wasn't convinced I was in labor anyway, but decided to obey when the doctor said to get to the hospital. We called my brother and his wife to come over, and got to the hospital around 7:40am.

When we got there they stuck me in the oh-so-fashionable gown and put me in a bed. There was one lady screaming her lungs out down the hall who kinda scared me. Not gonna lie. I thought that only happened on tv. After the routine (you moms know the one) the nurse looks at me kind of surprised and says "you're completely dilated and your bag of water is bulging. I kind of lost it then. I guess I wasn't even sure I was in labor, and now I'm expected to deliver a baby...like now. I had wanted try a natural delivery like I attempted with Merrick (ya know, before the emergency c-section) but its kind of scary to have your mind made up for you. They broke my water and 45 minutes later Jericho Hawk was born. I had been at the hospital almost exactly an hour. I think the only thing that slowed him down enough to keep me from having a baby in the car (or my house) was that my water hadn't broken. He was a BIG guy, weighing 9lbs 2 oz...so I definitely got to experience that natural birth I wanted in all it's agony. I mean, glory. Thankfully he was in a hurry to get here.


This recovery has been the easiest by far of the three kiddos. I'm feeling really good (I mean, besides the mind numbing exhaustion) which kind of surprised me since kid was HUGE compared to my other two. (6.7 and 7.14) I'm so thankful for how well everything went, and that we are both healthy. He has our hearts completely already...and both his siblings seem just as thrilled with this kiddo who made us a party of five. We are so blessed, and are looking forward to this New Year and the new life this little man brings.

The second shot is for Macro Monday. Check out more shots at Monday Rewind.

Three of them

I now am the proud owner of 2 boys. *3 if you count Billy ;)* When I was pregnant the first time I was not sure I'd know how to handle a boy. I had 4 sisters (and only one brother) growing up. I was afraid baby boy clothes would be lame, I wouldn't know how to deal with diapers containing boy parts, and that I'd not be good at playing with trucks and tractors.

When the time came I realized baby boys aren't so bad. They might not wear cute little tutu's, but they have a way of wrapping a mommy right around their dirty little fingers. They say cute things like "mommy, you're so pretty" and suddenly they can get away with murder. Or they just lay there and look cute, like this:

I'm blessed by the two (3) boys in my house. Merrick is already a great big brother to Jericho, giving him lots of kisses, making sure he's ok, feeding him Sonic tater tots...almost. (This was attempted in the hospital, but thankfully prevented)

Their deliveries might not have been tons of fun, (I still need to post the dramatic story of Jericho's appearance...wow.) but as soon as I saw both of them I knew I was cut out to be the mom to these two men. They were already a part of my heart, and I'd been given them for a reason. I'm pretty grateful for two (3) of my own personal superheros.

When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, 

she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. / John 16:21

The first shot is for Paper Mama, Second is for Scripture and a Snapshot and Sunday Snapshot

Here.

Baby J, whose name is Jericho Hawk, is finally here. He was born Monday morning, much to my surprise. (We barely made it to the hospital in time) He is a big guy, even though he was a bit more than a week early...9 pounds 2 oz., 20 3/4 inches long.

He is terribly handsome, and I'm terribly exhausted and smitten. ;) I think it was a wonderful way to start a new year. We are doing well and feeling so blessed.

Check out more shots at YouCapture. 

The second shot is for This or That, and third is for Texture Thursday.

All 3

Not a lot to say, but just wanted to share the view from over here on New Years Eve. It's not every day that all 3 of the hooligans are in the same frame in my camera. I'm sure that will get even more tricky when one of them is not contained in my belly.

It's pretty much one of the best views I could ask for as a mom, and I think it was definitely the best way I could have started out the new year. :)

Check out more shots at Sweet Shot, and Communal Global.

Puzzled

The hooligans got a couple of puzzles for Christmas. My first reaction was, "uh oh", but we decided to give it a shot. I loved puzzles growing up, and I know it's good for them to do. So I swallowed my OCD and we got to work.

They had a great time, and were actually better at it than I expected. Merrick found a couple of the pieces himself, and amazingly didn't destroy the puzzle or anything else.

Minnie Mouse (aka Tirzah...yes, they do puzzles in costume) did have one costume related meltdown. She had to completely strip down before she was able to move on and help finish the puzzle. Not sure what the problem was...I think something was making her itch, but we may never know. The meltdown is not pictured...it wasn't pretty, and I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate those shots in the future.

I think there should be more puzzles in their future. If for no other reason than it made them sit still on one part of the house for longer than 3 seconds. That doesn't happen every day...or any day actually.

The second shot is for Macro Monday. Check out more shots at Monday Rewind.