8 months!

I've skipped three months again, lol. I wanted to document a few special things in Hannah's development. She started army crawling right before 7 months (like 3 days before) and spent month 7 and 8 getting FAST. She is currently 8 months and is now pulling herself up on everything! Even just hands and knees crawling and she will get in plank position trying to stand. I don't believe my other kids were this quick at the standing up/trying to walk game. Gabriel I believe was close. She has quite a few people to learn from though! I'll have to look back on the blog ;). She is also copying everything that we do; this is a hilarious milestone. Gabriel especially likes to play "monkey say, monkey do." He waves his hands around and she swings her head back and forth as if to say "no," we cough and she coughs, we bang our hands on the table and she bangs hers, etc.. She also has been saying "momma" and "dadda" pretty religiously. She is also signing "more" although not always in the proper context. Sometimes she will be sitting on the floor saying "more" and I'm not sure what she thinks she is going to get ;). Last night she said "bye" as we left the pet store, but I can't get her to do it again. She's also clapping which could be saying "more?" Either way she's really growing up quick and taking in everything around her =). We are enjoying every moment!

Hannah is also a big eater. She will eat what we eat now and she is perfectly content sitting over there eating all day long (lol). Daddy likes to call her "big girl" because she acts just like a big girl around here. She definitely fits right in.

We took these photos together a few months ago and I'll love them always!!!

Hannah- 5 months ; 1st grade ; and "Pre School"

Wow I just skipped three months! Here we are at 5 months in Hannah's life. I'm busy busy (isn't life always this way?!) with four kids, trying to get the house ready to move, photography work, and lesson plans. Gabriel starts school next week. My Language Arts Curriculum is on back order so I'm going to wing it for now. Hopefully it will be in the first or second week in September. I have a good idea about how everything should go. We should spend about 3 hours a day homeschooling in the first grade. Language arts will include reading, writing, and phonics. We will also have math, and then for 3 months science before we switch to 3 months history. I am excited especially for science. We will watch a caterpillar, frog, and ant farm grow! Elizabeth and Josiah will continue just learning letters and sounds/basic numbers. Elizabeth's birthday is at the end of September so she misses that traditional "cut off" to start kindergarten in August. This works for me though because Josiah will be "early" with his birthday in April. I'm hoping I can start kindergarten with the both of them next August?! We will see. Josiah picks stuff up super quickly and has a great vocabulary, so I think he will be ready. More so than Gabriel was I believe. So that is the plan for next August.

Hannah Banana is doing exceptional. She's growing like a weed, rolling all over the place, sitting up like a champ, can balance for a little bit in a sitting position, and talking. Looking at when babies generally say their first word, and when my others said their first word, I hesitate to say this but Hannah has been saying "momma" very clearly and very consistently. I did get it on camera once. Prior to saying "momma" Josh and I swear she said "Hi," but we never caught that on video and it wasn't as clear as "momma." Since the first time she said it she has been saying it a lot more. Mostly when she is upset she will say "momma," but she's also said it while reaching for me. She will sometimes say it while babbling but not always. Like sometimes it will be "mammamammama" but then others it is just "momma." Anyway, I guess I feel the need to clarify because she is so young, but then again she's been a quick study. I knew she would want to hit the ground running from all the movement in my belly. She never stopped --and still doesn't. She is a horrible sleeper. My worst so far. She will wake me up a few times in the night which doesn't bother me "too" much until about 4 a.m.. Around 4 she will start waking up every hour. So I'll be up at 4, 5, 6, and 7. Around 7-8 a.m. she is awake and will not nap again until about 1:00 p.m.. This nap if I'm lucky will be about 30-40 minutes. She will sleep another 20-30 minutes in the evening around the time Josh gets home. So she's napping about an hour a day when a baby should be napping 2-5 hours a day! It is different for me because my other kids were great sleepers. She is also pretty needy when she is awake. She will cry when I set her down. So I end up carrying her everywhere until dinner when I just cannot. At dinner I'll hear her scream for the hour or so I'm prepping/cooking. Although she's a "high maintenance" baby she is also a happy baby (just when she's getting her way I guess--lol). She has the most enormous infectious smile. Her ENTIRE body smiles. I say this because she kind of scrunches her body as she gives you this huge cheeky grin. Just the cutest!

No teeth just yet but the fussiness, drooling, etc. has increased yet again. AHHHH I hope it will be soon because she's killin' me. Her gums are swollen and I see the teeth so I'm crossing my fingers it'll be soon.

Here are some pics of my sweet kids. Hopefully I'll get some professional ones soon. We need a new family photo!

 Hannah's first trip to the beach

 Josiah on the sea turtle at Ft. Fisher

 The kids got gifts from Great Grandma and Grandpa

 Sister love!

 When she does sleep I get photos (obviously)-- lol

 Gabriel and Liz have been sleeping in each others rooms (aww)

 Passed out! Obviously I like kids sleeping pics. They are so cute sleeping =)

 Happy Girl! She sleeps with me at night in my bed (I'm going to miss her when she leaves), but she naps here.

 Me and my girl at the park

My spunky girl on daddy's bike. Which he just sold... I'm sure we will have another soon (insert eye roll)

**More pictures later. My high maintenance babe just woke and it isn't acceptable that I'm sitting still at a computer...

Happy Two Months!

Wow, has it really been two and a half months?! Hannah has been with us (outside the womb) for only 2.5 months now, but it feels like she has been here all along. We can't imagine life without her now that she has made an appearance. There is so much to say about the past two months. How much the kids love her, how Gabriel says he can't keep his eyes off her, Elizabeth continues to thank me for having her, and Josiah loves giving her hugs. Oh and then there is the Mother's Day card that Gabriel wrote how is favorite moment with me was when I had baby Hannah. She had her two month appointment last week and she is doing awesome! Hannah is 24 inches long and 13.8 lbs putting her in the 91st percentile. She is officially my biggest baby. Then the all important question, "how does she sleep?" Well, she loves sleeping with me and we do pretty good together. I sleep better when she is beside me, and we usually fall asleep with her on my chest. She will wake up a few times a night and likes to use me as a pacifier. The part that gets me is she wakes up during my REM cycle around 6 ish in the morning and stays awake until the other kids wake up. It is almost like she says, "alright guys my shifts up--it is your turn to keep mom up!" Anyway, this makes me tired for the rest of the day. We sometimes take naps together in the middle of the day because she is super sweet and loves cuddles. She screams when we aren't holding or rocking her, but we are happy to be holding her =). You learn that with infants you need to get as many snuggles as you can while they are young and can't get away. She is also talking a lot/babbling to all of us. Seriously the sweetest sound ever are her coos. She can track us with her eyes and smiles when we make eye contact. She is also holding herself up during the small amount of tummy time she gets--strong girl. Here are some photos of us around the house (and her doc check up--she has no personal space as you can see):

The roughest part about watching the four kids now is not being able to put Hannah down. It is literally a matter of life and death as the kids have tried to feed her raisins, given her hugs while covering up her nose and mouth, and have fallen on her while she is in the bouncing chair. I can't even take a shower without the door open because I have to make sure the other kids don't sneak in and try to hold her (oh, no bathroom alone for me either). Elizabeth and Josiah are the worst, but luckily I have Gabriel to help me keep them in check. He tattles on everyone to include himself (lol). 

Speaking of tattling, Josiah and Elizabeth are being monsters and getting into a lot of trouble together these days. I am breastfeeding every two hours and that puts me on the couch while they roam free to play in the bathroom soap, cut hair (Elizabeth), throw mud at each other, get water all over the bathroom, mess up their rooms, paint things, and lots of other "stuff" they shouldn't be doing. Add homeschooling Gabriel to my attention being away from them and they can be quite the gremlins. I think they are also seeking a little attention too. I just keep telling myself that Hannah wont be small long and I'll have more time with all of them when she can participate in the things we do together. Until then I'm enjoying the baby time while doing damage control with the rest of them (my poor house). My days go by in a whirlwind because they are so jam packed with "stuff." It goes something like: breakfast, clean up, homeschool, lunch, clean up, nap time for the kids/work time for me, a little play time, prep dinner, cook dinner, clean up, spend a little time with Josh and catch up on house chores/laundry, kids bed time routine, and then more work for me/calling clients when it is actually quiet...SLEEP. It is a crazy life with four, homeschooling, and maintaining a "day job," but I'm happy. I don't think I would want it any other way.

We only have about 20 days left of school and then we will do a summer reading program. Gabriel is doing great in math and has gotten all the concepts he is supposed to know. He's doing pretty well in reading as well; I'm happy listening to him sound out words so well. The only thing we need to work on is quicker recognition of words and writing. I could have pushed him a long further but we enjoy our park dates, time with friends, and lots of free time. I'm proud of him though and happy to almost be done with our first year of schooling. Actually I can't wait for a summer break--I'm pretty stoked for it! I could certainly use the break although I plan on continuing the reading process. Maybe we'll find some books he's really interested in so it won't be so "boring."

Until next time.... 

Hannah Elise Birth

Psalm 139 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." I've thought about this scripture many times throughout this pregnancy. As a Biology person I sometimes struggle with the natural and supernatural. It's easier to accept the tangible. It's easier to look at my cycle, take an ovulation test, have sex (sorry if that's too direct for some but we all know about the birds and the bees--lol), and expect a baby. For a year I had a perfect 28 day schedule and I ovulated every month, so I expected a baby and it didn't happen. Then, in June, we saw those two lines and were overjoyed! But why June? What was different about June? The difference is that before the creation of the earth God had planned and orchestrated a baby named Hannah to be born on March 15, 16 and I would be her mom. From June to March she was knit together perfectly and on March 15 I went into labor.

I had prayed that it would happen on a multiple of "5" day because all of my other kids were on a "5" day, but I prayed super hard that it would be earlier than her due date. I even thought well I'll look at the time from conception and that is the 10th of March, so it'll definitely be then. With the contractions I was having I thought definitely she would be early. For two weeks almost daily I had contractions that were regular. Some days they were very strong. Some days they were every ten minutes for the entire day and into the night (through the night--or waking me up). I thought for sure she was coming early, or she would kill me before that point--lol. She was definitely hurting my insides, mostly my c- section scar and my pelvic bone/nerves. I thought for sure I had inflammation or infection because she was hurting my pelvis so bad. Then on the 15th at about 7 a.m. I knew it would be the day. The contractions were strong and lasting about a minute instead of the typical 30-45 seconds. Josh had the flu, and was passed out in the living room chair, but I woke him up and we called over his parents who were such a blessing and watched our kids (the kids who also had the flu for two weeks prior to this day and were still on the mend). We called my doula and headed over to the hospital to labor in the chapel area since I knew we weren't ready for triage yet. I walked, squatted, threw up my breakfast, and labored for a little while until Hannah popped out of position in my pelvis and my contractions stopped. I was about 3-4 cm at this point and Hannah was in front of my cervix. I'm not exactly sure what this looks like but I felt it. It was like she was pounding my pelvic bone. I was in pain, but not having contractions. SO we decided to go get lunch/breakfast. We went to Little Italy and sat outside to eat. I was having contractions sitting in the chair so I got up to squat each time a contraction hit. They were coming about every 3-5 minutes. I must have been a sight to see laboring outside with my throw up bag (haha). I walked inside to use the bathroom once and the staff looked incredibly concerned. No worries though I still had hours of labor to go!

Squatting and trying to get labor going faster

Squatting through contractions

Checking out the belly

Trying to get her to flip (she was sunny side up)

Next stop was Doris' house (my doula). I labored on the ball for a little bit and then she had to go to an appointment with her dad. So my instructions were not to have the baby in the next 1.5 hours (lol). I sat tight with no walking until she got home. Then it was "on!"--operation get baby out on the 15th (her due date). We started with the peanut (this large rubber ball that fits between your knees) and I had some strong contractions! This was probably 3:00 ish. Then we walked the neighborhood and they were about 2 minutes apart and getting stronger. We called my OB office to see if they would check me at 4:00, but they said no just go to triage. I wasn't ready at that point, but I wanted them to check me to maybe move things along faster. That didn't work out so we stayed at Doris' house until things really started to change. At probably 5:15 p.m. everyone knew it was time to head out to the hospital. My contractions were much stronger, coming fast, and I was throwing up again. I threw up about a liter of fluid that day--it wasn't fun but it helped push Hannah down. We got in the car, I got right out to have another contraction/squat, and then we were off =). We got to triage and my water broke there (I was 6 cm) at 6:00 p.m. I was lying on my side and just felt the warm water gush. In triage I requested an epidural. This was at about 5:50 p.m.. Doris talked to me about the epidural to be sure I wanted it and I was sure. I was handling the pain fine, but my mind and desire to birth naturally again wasn't there. I felt tired. For weeks I was having those contractions- and my pelvic pain - and at this point it was almost another twelve hours. I just wanted an easy birth this time! This wasn't a "pain decision" but a calculated one. I wanted to experience an epidural birth. So, I got into a position that I knew wouldn't cause me to dilate too quickly (because what is the point in getting one if it's not going to kick in right?!) and waited for that epidural ;). Doris says it was mind over matter because I held that baby in. She knew if I had the desire I would have gone from 6 to complete in less than an hour, but I didn't this time. I contracted through the epidural process, but I barely even felt the needle go in. About 15 minutes later I felt warmth traveling up my legs. This was very welcomed as I was shivering minutes before (transition). The epidural was indeed amazing!!!!!

Pre epidural serious face (6 cm/stretchy)

Pre epidural between contractions

Contraction

After epidural chillin' as happy as can be ;)

Wow, this is what an epidural does for you. Is this labor?!

Some more of the family showed up

I was so happy I kissed my flu ridden husband

When I started pushing dad hid in the closet

About 2.5 hours later I felt pressure to push. The nurse checked me and I was complete. I was incredibly surprised, happy, and amused that I was ready to push and only felt pressure. My joy was very apparent because my brother's girlfriend (who was in the room at the time I was complete) asked later if I was always so happy-lol. I was in shock I believe because my past two natural births were much different at complete!!!! So, we started pushing, doctor came in a few minutes later, and to our complete surprise asked Josh if he wanted to deliver his daughter! We all realized this is definitely a once in a lifetime event.  Not everyone gets to deliver their baby =). I pushed for 15 minutes as the doctor directed Josh on how to deliver a baby, and at 9:03 p.m. our baby girl was born!!! I didn't realize that Josh literally did everything until I looked back at the photos (many WAY too graphic to post here). He held her neck, helped her twist her shoulders out, and completely delivered her--- it was amazing! I closed my eyes through most of the contractions/pushes, so I really got to experience the birth again looking through the photos. At 9:18 p.m. the placenta was delivered by Josh and the cord was cut by him as well. As for my experience I was able to  feel pressure and knew when to push. I could also push with my legs which means the anesthesiologist was amazing because she seemed to give me the perfect balance between pain free and not completely unfeeling with legs rendered useless. It was a great experience I won't forget!

I get to deliver my baby?! Doc had just asked him if he wanted to ;)

Creative cropping and you see Josh delivering his baby girl with my mom in the background so happy =)

Everyone smiling ear to ear!

I love everyones faces.. Such an amazing moment

Daddy has a good hold on his girl

Amazing

She's blue but beautiful

Birth is amazing

He was crying his eyes out.. What a night!

Looking back at my four births I am excited to say I've pretty much done it all. Gabriel was a c-section after 30 hours of "labor" (I say this because it was called active labor since my water broke but I wasn't in pain that entire time), Liz was a completely natural VBAC with no induction or pain meds, Josiah was an induction, so not completely "natural," but pain-drug free VBAC, and Hannah was natural going into labor, with an epidural, VBAC. I was asked which I preferred now that I've experienced so many and I have to say if I did it again I would go drug free. Not because the experience with an epidural wasn't amazing, but because I realize that not every epidural will turn out as perfect, and if I wasn't able to feel my legs to move them, or to feel the pressure to push, I wouldn't have been happy with the experience. I also didn't like the way my back felt after birth, the inability to walk right away, and feeling the drugs leave my body. One other thing that may or may not have been caused by the epidural (but studies back up) is my milk taking four days to come in. With my unmedicated births my milk came in the second day. With it taking four days I had to deal with a fussier baby, no sleep for four nights, and weight checks at the doctor because Hannah went from 8.7 to 8.1, to 7.8 before going back to 8.1 at the first weight check to hopefully over birth weight at her next one this week. SO, if anyone is wondering/contemplating birth choices there is my analysis ;). Whether there will be a Barnett #5 I'll leave up to God's leading. He is the one, after all, that opens and closes the womb! 

Cutting the cord

Most of my photos with her are topless (oops), but here is a sweet one I can share

Beauty 

A daddy's love is like no other

My dad and I

<3 p="">

Uncle James

Thank you for being there again for us Doris Ann! 

I give God all the glory and credit for my beautiful Hannah Elise. She was 8 lbs, 7 oz, and 21 inches long. When they put her on my chest I said, "she is tiny look at her!!!" I guess that is what you get when you are used to holding huge toddlers--lol. She is perfect and I'm so thankful for this blessing we waited and prayed for! 

The kids are also loving her! Elizabeth thanks me every day for having a cute little baby Hannah, Gabriel says he can't keep his eyes off her she is so cute, and Josiah loves to sit by us and give her kisses while I feed her. All of my kids are such a blessing and I can not wait to see how Hannah fits in to the mix as we all grow together =). 

First time we put her in the car. Josiah was unsure, Gabriel was SO happy

Gabriel says he can't keep his eyes off of her she is so cute

Daddy tested positive for the flu, so we took the mask precaution and he didn't touch her for a week

Love at first sight

She loves Hannah so much. She is a wonderful big sister.

A little unsure then but he's warmed up since

A little smile bc she's crying, lol

Big brother trying the paci

Josiah is curious what is going on

She is so in love with her little sister. I am a proud mom to have such a sweet girl.

Warming up

Love

Sweet boy

Hannah gets lots of love from her big sis

Yes, the kids had been sick too, but she was wearing the mask just for fun here 

Those eyes. He got his paci back when Hannah came home with one.... ohhhh boy... :/ 

She thanks me every day for having baby Hannah and talks about me having another baby and another baby-- ha

He's loving helping mommy with Hannah

Big helper

Dad and his girl once the flu was gone

Melts my heart

***Thank you Rebecca for taking my birth photos! They are beyond special to me =)!