Cousins

For my mom's birthday, she wanted pics of the grandkids. . .
Ainsley (6), Taetum (5), Porter (4), Bridger (3), and Trey (2)Thanks to my good friend Kristi
http://kristishanksphotography.blogspot.com/
She is wonderful with active children :)

In front of Grammy and Grampas house. . .

On their porch swing. . .

At a park. . .

And by some railroad tracks. . .

It is great to have my sister close by (and her family) to go through this mothering journey with!

Choices and Decisions. . .part 2

Thank you to those of you that have been praying for us. It has been a year of change for us, with Ryan changing jobs, and us currently attending a different church. Both very difficult decisions. We still have many decisions to continue making as far as public school vs homeschooling for Ainsley and preK vs kindergarten for Porter. And more. . .

So, thanks for the continued prayers as we try to discern what is best for our family and follow God's lead,

A little bit of summer. . .

in the middle of winter. . .

A little bit of basketball in the middle of football season. . .

And a whole lotta swimmin. . .

and jumpin. . .and splashin. . .

A whole lotta fun to be had. . .

A little bit of vacation. . .or staycation. . .
and a whole lotta waitin til she's tall enough for this. . .
A little bit of me. . .
and a whole lotta him. . .
Yes, there's a little bit of summer. . .

in the middle of winter. And a whole lotta love goin on in this photo. . .

Of my darling 4 1/2 yr old son in his sisters nightgown. He was copying everything she said, so she said, "I'm a girl." He repeated after her, and soon they came out of her room, Porter dressed like this. . .

My first turkey and the "petticoat"

"I have to do what, mom? Clean it out? How do I do that? Why don't they do that before they sell them?" I made my first turkey. It was free. While still in my 20's. Pretty impressive, I know. Ainsley has been learning about the first Thanksgiving at school, and she asked when she saw a picture of The Last Supper, "Is that the first Thanksgiving?" No, but this WAS OUR family's 1st Thanksgiving spent at home. It was a relaxing day. Where else can you dig into the apple pie with a fork before the meal and no one cares? Where else can all the kids wear pj's for the meal? We scoured the ads for Black Friday deals, and put up our lights and tree. . .He had celebrated with Ryan's family the weekend before. . .And with my family the weekend after. Any guesses as to what's going on in this blurry picture of my husband and brother in laws?!We celebrated my very loving, giving, wonderful with children mom's 60th, played with my sister and dogs, and we got to eat lefse hot off the griddle. . mmm!!Our tree is well, a little lopsided, but the kids had a great time decorating the bottom half (old stockings and all). . .

And GooF and I love to reminisce as we look at our favorite ornaments. . Martha and George Washington make us laugh every year and remind us of living out east. The angel I've had since I was a little girl. An ornament I got for Ainsley on her first Christmas. Ornaments that have broken and we still hang the head on the tree.
Ainsley has been wearing her "petticoat" everywhere. It is more of a "pea coat" but after reading the Laura Ingalls books and learning that petticoats keep you warm, here is Ainsley sporting her "petticoat" as she calls it :) . . .

Her baby doll Allison sports one too. . .She wore that "petticoat" right on downtown to the first parade of lights we have taken the kids to. It was the perfect evening to be downtown, with the beautiful weather, all the lights, and the kids were old enough to enjoy it. . they were enthralled! Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful for many things. All meal long at our house, we named things we are thankful for and agreed with each other. . .we are thankful for our family, friends, food, health, a warm house, clothes, a daddy that works, a mommy that stays home, Ainsley's teacher, the love of Jesus, etc etc etc. Thank you God for all of these things.

Birth Story ~ Trey Time!

On the mornings that both your siblings are at school, I look at you and say, "Trey time!" With a huge smile you say, "Mommy time!" I say, "Trey time!" You say, "Mommy time!" I love my time with you Trey. It's Trey Time! I tell people that I am just really ENJOYING you . . .for me, it's the confidence that has come in raising two babes before you. I no longer worry so much about if I'm doing things right or what people are thinking, but I get to spend more time just enjoying you.

As a 2 yr old, you give me the sweetest kisses on my cheeks. You are pretty laid back, a good talker, lover of books, lover of snugglin up and watching football with dad, follower of your big "sissy A-Z," and loved by God and us!! As a baby in my tummy though, while you were amazingly being formed, happily playing, sleeping and growing, your mama was sick! It is time, "Trey time," time to tell your birth story. . .

In November of 2006, Ainsley had just turned 3, Porter was 18 months old, and I had a brand new baby nephew. . .
In December 2006, I found out I was due with baby #3, to be born August 2007 (hmmm. . .9 months after my nephew was born :) ) When daddy came home from work, we were waiting on the stairs, and I had Porter give daddy a note (that your siblings obviously couldn't read) that said, "I'm going to be a BIG BROTHER!!"

On Feb 3 we told Ainsley and Porter the news. Ainsley said, "Daddy, Daddy, mommy's pregnant!!!" We had them wear big sister/big brother shirts to surprise Grammy and Grampa

On Feb 6 I had a 12 wk ultrasound and we got a glimpse of you!!

Starting the end of March and continuing throughout my pregnancy, I was sick. I had fast heart rates, constantly felt "off balance" and various other symptoms. I had numerous doctor visits and tests done. . they checked my ears, my heart, my brain, etc etc etc. . .I felt awful and it was a very difficult pregnancy. I spent lots of time laying on the couch, and was very thankful for the support of my family and friends.

On April 3rd, we had our 20wk ultrasound! We thought we would wait until you were born to find out if you were a boy or girl. . .we thanked God for a healthy looking baby. . .

But, on June 15th (2 months before you were due) we had our 3rd ultrasound, and we could wait no longer to find out if you were a little boy or girl. I was thinking girl, so what a surprise to hear, "It's a BOY!" Porter was going to have a brother!

All day on Sat Aug 4, I was sick with a fever. That evening we went to the hospital so they could check on you. With my fever/dehydration you had a fast heart rate and I was having contractions. The doctor on call decided it was baby time aka Trey Time! They gave me a pill to make labor progress, and soon after, things got very scary for me. They could no longer find your heart rate, and when they did find it, it was very low. The nurses started rushing around and the doctor quickly decided to do an emergency c-section. Before I knew it, I was being wheeled off to the operating room, all the way asking, "Is my baby going to be ok? Is my baby ok? Will you get him out in time? Is he ok? Are you sure?" I remember a nurse reassuring me that my baby would be fine, and putting me a little more at ease. Soon after, the anesthesiologist came in, told me to start counting to 5 and I'd be asleep. . .

And now is where our guest blogger comes in. Let me introduce you to GooF. . .the supportive husband who I appreciate so very much. . .and his version of your birth story.

"When Mommy and Daddy got to the hospital, they entered the emergency room doors,
and daddy had mommy sit in a wheelchair, bucket in hand. As Daddy was
checking into the emergency room, Mommy started throwing up. The check-in
lady was on the phone with someone on the materity floor, saying, "She is
pregnant, sick, and currently throwing up." So Mommy and Daddy got sent up
to the maternity floor. The first room was a small temporary room
because the doctors did not expect Mommy to have a baby
that night. First nurses came in and checked out Mommy. Then a doctor came in and got
some more information. The first doctor went home and a new doctor came
in. The new doctor was a nice young lady. The nurses were having a
difficult time finding the babies heartbeat, because the monitor kept picking up
Mommy's heartbeat instead. The doctor and nurses kept going out into the hallway
and discussing what to do. Mommy and Daddy could not hear what they were
saying, but Mommy and Daddy knew they were talking about Mommy. Then
the doctor came back in and said, "Lets have the baby tonight." Mommy
and Daddy got moved to a birthing room, and mommy was given a pill to help with
the contractions. After taking the pill, Mommy and the babies heartrates
became sporadic. Daddy could tell the doctor and nurses were more
concerned than during any of the other babies births. After only a few
minutes in the birthing room, the doctor came in and said, "Let's just deliver
this baby now. We will do a c section right away." The doctor walked
out of the room, and in came a group of nurses. All the
nurses began unhooking the bed, the cables and iv tubes. In only a matter of seconds,
Mommy was wheeled out of the birthing room, and one of the nurses turned to
Daddy and said,"Someone will be bringing you some clothes to change into."Daddy
stood in the quiet room and waited for what seemed like hours, but was really
only about 3 minutes. Finally, a nurse came in with some hospital scrubs,
and daddy put them on as quickly as possible. Then Daddy followed the
nurse to the operating room. Daddy remembers seeing more people in the
room than expected. He would guess about 15 people were in the room(3
nurses to take care of baby, 1 surgeon, 1 anesthestist, 1 nurse for each of
them, students, a bunch other people). The nurse told Daddy to go sit in
the chair by Mommy's head. Daddy made his way to the front of the
room. He looked at Mommy's sleepy face. Before he even sat down,
one of the nurses said, "The baby is already out." Daddy scanned to look
by Mommy's tummy and the nurses were already taking Trey to the cleaning
table. That was fast! The nurses immediately started wiping Trey off
and suctioning his mouth, and Trey was a little bluish/purple. The nurses
got Trey breathing, but he did not cry right away (which must be
abnormal). Trey's heartbeat was about 60 bpm, and Daddy could tell the
nurses were a bit concerned. For a couple of minutes the nurses were
working very rapidly to warmup Trey and get his heartbeat up to a normal
rate. Daddy was not sure what was going on, but he could tell the
nurses were worried. Soon the nurses got Trey's heartbeat up and he
started crying, and Daddy started taking pictures. After some pictures, it
was time to take Trey up to the nursery. While pushing Trey up to the
nursery, one of the nurses said, "You caused quite a stir in the
hospital." Daddy responded, "Why is that?" The nurse answered, "Just
about every available nurse and doctor in the hospital showed up for the
delivery." At the time, Trey was the only baby in the nursery.
Daddy remembers standing by Trey and holding his little finger while he lay
under the warmer. Daddy went back and forth between the nursery and
Mommy's room until Mommy woke up. When Mommy woke up she wanted to know if
the baby was ok and she wanted to see pictures. Daddy happily showed her
some pictures on the camera. Daddy must have gone to sleep
after this point because he does not remember much more of the night."

On Sunday, August 5th, at 12:40am, it was "Trey time!" You were born two weeks early, weighing in at 7lb 9oz and 18.5 in long!

When I woke up, I was so excited to see you for the first time and hear that you were ok! Thank you God for a healthy baby boy! Trey Coleman

Your siblings were very excited to meet you too. . .Ainsley said, "Look, his big toe fits in my nose!" Porter called you, "Fray Toeman."
When visitors came to the hospital I had just pressed the button for more pain meds and then Porter pressed it again. Needless to say, I was rather out of it when I had visitors.

After your birth, I was still sick. We took a trip to the Univ of MN medical center to get it figured out. The doctor put me on both thyroid medicine and on an anti-depressant. I cried, trying to tell him that I was not depressed. He told me I had 3 children, 3 and under and I needed to take the medicine. A few wks after I started both meds, I felt like myself again. I was so thankful to no longer have fast heartrates and feel off balance. I was able to enjoy you and enjoy being a mommy! I had never struggled with depression before, but looking back on it, I can see how anxious I was, how I was having overly worried thoughts, how it was hard to focus, and how I was just not myself. I do not know whether my thyroid problem triggered the depression, whether being sick all the time did, whether it was how my body reacted to pregnancy and having my 3rd small child on the way, whether it got worse when Porter was sick and in the hospital, or what. But, I am thankful for mommy friends, both young and old that told me, "Yes, you can and should pray. But sometimes having children or being in certain situations does crazy things to our bodies and we need medication. It is ok." I believe that we go through all of life's joys and struggles for a reason, and we do not go through them alone.

The Bible says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above. . ." James 1:17.

Each of you children, no matter your birth story, are gifts from above!! God has been at work in your life, from the very beginning, creating you to be the person He wants you to be! And through your births and your lives, He is molding daddy and I into the people he wants us to be. It is our privilege to raise you. We love you, all the time, no matter what. Love, mommy and daddy