Busy June

Wow, this has been quite a month for us! At the beginning of the month we had family pictures taken by the amazing Maria Alexandra, of Maria Alexandra Photography (Here is the website www.mariaalexandraphotography.com ) We absolutely love them! Here are a few:















After getting the pictures done it was Father's Day, and I (Becky) had a BBQ to put on with my side of the family - hot dogs, chicken, salad, and these yummy and cute brownies!



That day I had a 5k race called "The longest day" since it was at 7:30 at night! My sister in law Jill ran it too, and she kicked my butt! However, I did do better than my last race, so it was a good run for me.



Sunday was Father's Day, so it was a day making a big breakfast, a talk at church, and then dinner at my in-law's house for Rick! Monday was
our Lexi's birthday - I can't believe my first baby is 3 already.....



So crazy - 36 hours of labor and 2 hours of pushing, and what was crazy is I would do it all over again! She is such a light in our house, and we love her more and more every day. Happy Birthday, little peanut.

We did have a party for Lexi the following weekend - we waited because Uncle Andrew came home from Texas!! I will post the pictures from the party later.
Then, let's see, we're up to the 28th of June now, we decided it would be great to take 3 kids camping with Uncle Andrew at the coast. Quick recap:
3 kids, 3 adults (sort of, maybe just 1) 1 tent, 3 days, 2 nights.
Sand. Lots of sand.
Sunburn - a little bit :(
Dirt. Lots of dirt.
Tantrums - a lot from the babies, a couple from the grown ups too.
Sleep. Some of it.
S'mores, giggles, chipmunks, food, hot chocolate, walks, lessons learned and memories made - lots of them.

When we got back (this is getting to be a really long post!) on Thursday, I had one night to recuperate, and then it was Party Time! My parents have been married for 40 years - 40 YEARS! - today, the 3rd of July. We planned a surprise party for them on Saturday night out at my brother Matt's house with about 45 people there - granted, our family alone makes about 25 - It was great! My dad knew date and time, but it was a total surprise for my mom, who cried and called us all liars and sneaks (In a good way, I promise). I'll also post more about that later, with pictures.

All in all, a crazy, fun filled month, and it all wraps up with the 4th of July tomorrow - a day of:
A race for me! My first 10k in Ashland - wish me luck! More BBQ, bubbles, swimming, A NAP, and awesome displays of light and fire tomorrow night. Andrew goes back home Tuesday morning, and then things (maybe?) will calm down around this place! Well, really, with 3 kids, as much as things can calm down I suppose!
Happy 4th of July everyone! Yay for America!!

Perfect

I watched this video, and thought, I've got to share this (that is, in between my tears I thought that) I've got to write how I feel about this.




I love this song. I've got it downloaded on my ipod, on my playlist, every time I hear it on the radio I turn it up - it's something I need to remind myself of. It is so easy to let myself believe I should be someone else, that I've become a boring mom, that I'm overweight, that I'm a bad wife.....the list could go on forever. But instead of tuning into that negativity, I push it away. I don't need excuses, I'm perfect being me. I especially need to hear that when I worry about working out, that I'm not getting the results I think I should - to remind myself that I am not working out to get skinny, to fit in, or look like a celebrity mom. I'm working out to be strong and healthy and a more awesome me. I caught up on Glee last night, and watched the episode where they were looking for an anthem - well, for me this is my anthem today (I reserve the right to change it as I see fit). I am more than a number on a scale, the van I drive, or the mom jeans I currently wear :)Even if I never worked out again, I am perfect just the way I am, and I am a child of God. I need to remember to tell my kids and my husband that important lesson every day, and also everyone I'm around - because we all need to know that.

Count your blessings

I'm going to take a page from Matthew Henry ( a 17th century theologian and bible scholar.) He was once robbed, and later recorded in his journal (I'm summarizing this) Let me be thankful. First, that it was the first time I was ever robbed. Second, though he took my purse, he did not take my life. Third, though he took all my money, it wasn't much. And fourth, that it was I that was robbed, and not I who did the robbing.

So today, I'm going to be thankful. Here is the background, and I really hope I don't come off as Debbie Downer! For the past week, I have had three sick babies, and I am sick as well. Sydney woke up Saturday at about 1 am with croup, and a double ear infection (again!) Lexi came down with something Sunday evening, and ran a fever of an average of 103.5 for about 3 days, then came down with pink eye! Austin has had a cold since Monday, I took him to the Pediatrician's today, and it turns out he has RSV (a respiratory virus that's really hard on babies) and now he has to have nebulizer treatments to help his breathing, and not get any sicker or he could be in the hospital. I have been sick since Monday, spiked a fever of 103 on Wednesday, which thankfully broke the same night since Kevin took over and I slept for almost 13 hours straight! Kevin was also gone on Monday and Tuesday for business, and also has to work during the day, so I've pretty much been flying solo except for yesterday, when he came home around 1 pm.
I have heard that happiness is a frame of mind, and I'm trying to cultivate it. Here is the list that I have come up with over the course of today, while washing, cleaning and sterilizing nearly everything in my house! It's amazing the amount of laundry that has to be done when everyone is sick!
1. So thankful for modern medicine, like Tylenol, nebulizers, and antibacterial eye drops. I'm also thankful for homeopathic medicines, like saline spray, honey syrup for coughs, and earache drops.
2. Thankful for access to competent, reliable doctors and nurses, who really are just a phone call away. And on that note, pharmacists as well.
3. Family members who have helped with advice, and running to the pharmacy for medicines (Thank you Matt!!)
4. That I can stay home, without having to take time off work, or find a sitter. I know that this is not the case for everyone, and to each their own situation. But for me, I am very grateful to be able to stay home and cater to their every need.
5. A warm home to be in, with hot water, electricity - one that is clean, dry and safe. I know there are so many others that are without these basic needs, and my heart truly aches for them, and how hard that must be knowing that where you live may be the cause of your baby being sick.
6. A husband that is willing to take more than his share to help me through all of this.
7. Prayer. Because I know that Heavenly Father has heard every single one of mine, especially the ones at 3 in the morning when I am so tired and frustrated and congested and feel like I cannot keep going.

And that's where I'm going to end this post for now - there are so many other things, too many to really list - but life is calling and I have to take care of sickies. Be thankful everyone!

Working out is really, surprisingly working out well

All my life, I have been obsessed with being thin. I was happy, but always wanted to weigh a little bit less, have the curves in the right places though - basically I wanted to be lean, but with curves at the same time. And I was always slightly disappointed with my body. Not so much that anyone would notice, but still, always there. That all changed when I got pregnant with Lexi. Suddenly, I had this amazing body that could carry a baby in it - it was amazing! And I didn't have to worry about being thin, because heck! I was pregnant, buddy! It felt great just to be me, and not really freak out about if my jeans fit, because really, they all had elastic waste bands anyway. Along with that came the I can eat what I feel like train of thought - not such a good idea when after I had her, the weight didn't just disappear! I felt the same when 4 months later, I was pregnant with Sydney! And then, after that, with Austin! Now, with Austin, I really had learned my lesson from Lexi - I needed to eat better. So, I only gained what I needed to with him, and it came off about a week after I had him. Now I need to work on getting rid of the extra weight from the previous pregnancies! But really, I don't care about weight now. I have four goals: One, fit in my wedding jeans, which are the jeans I fit in when I got married. Two, run the Pear Blossom for the 5k - and run the whole way. For me this is a big goal, because I hate running. I'm trying to change that perspective, one mile at a time. Three, successfully complete p90x - which involves two things: One, all 90 days working out. Two, being able to do 15 of each kind of push up, wide, military, regular, and at least one pull up without a chair! And the fourth goal is the Portland Sprint Triathlon in August - 750 m swim, 20k bike, and 5k run. I don't have times to beat, I just want to finish it! All of these goals give me the ultimate benefit - a healthier me. I have stopped caring about being skinny. I want to be strong, strong from head to toe (my toes will be doing curls!) I need to be tough to keep up with these kids of mine - I'm greatly outnumbered! I want to be able to push my body to be stronger, faster - not worry about the number on the scale. I would say I'm not doing this for anyone else, but that's a lie. I'm working out for me, yes, but I'm also doing this to be a stronger mom, more active with my kids. I'm also doing it to look hot for my husband! But ultimately, to have a sense of satisfaction in setting and finishing my goals, and I really miss my jeans! So good luck to me!

Kind of cheating....

So I feel like I'm kind of cheating on my blog, because these aren't my original thoughts, but they are two poems that have been going through my head today. The first was in a book of poems I had as a little girl.
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow…

For children grow up, we’ve learned to our sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs, dust go to sleep;

I’m rocking my baby, and babies don’t keep.

I feel like my days are just so full of the cleaning and fussing, and griping about how I can't wait for them to be big enough to leave me alone for 20 minutes! But then I look at how Austin is already changing so much, and then I look at Lexi and Sydney and see how big they are already. Lexi can put her shoes on by herself. She can get things out of the fridge and put them back. She's going on the potty already! And I want to rewind to when she was a baby and I could rock her to sleep. Sydney is talking more and more, which I love, but sometimes I actually miss those late night feedings with just me and her and the house so quiet at 2 am. So today, when they get up from their naps, my housework can just pound sand.


This is a poem my mom has on her wall, and I love it - She also has a plaque with this funny ugly little lady on it that says "Housework makes you ugly"

I will not have a temper tantrum nor stomp across the floor.

I will not pout, scream or shout or kick against the door.

I will not throw my food around nor pick upon another.

I’ll always try to be real good because I am the mother.

Oh boy, there are days where I really feel like this! Everything that comes out of my mouth gets repeated, so the days of the cuss-slip are over!! Now it's all internal :) And from my mouth you get things like cookie crumbles and biscuits!

What's 2 + 1 = ? Really full arms!

It's been 4 weeks since little Austin arrived - all 10 pounds of him! Since this is how I looked before I had him



It still came as a bit of a surprise that he was THAT big! So the story:
I woke up Tuesday morning to some contractions, which wasn't a surprise because I had been having false labor for almost 2 weeks, so I was more annoyed by them than anything, because I thought they were faking me out again. I figured they'll either keep going or not, so I decided to make banana bread. About an hour into it, the contractions were getting stronger and closer, so I called my sister Jan who dropped her schedule for the day and came right over, only to drive me to the hospital an hour later! My thinking at first was that at the hospital I could at least labor without kids hanging all over me! When we got there though, it was a good thing we left when we did, because my contractions went to about 2 minutes apart! Checked into the hospital, Dr. Tomlinson came in and guesstimated his weight at 8 1/2 lbs - so I said I didn't want an epidural. If I had known his actual weight, I think I might have been a bit more freaked out about it! It got pretty intense after they broke my water, and man did it hurt! But I knew what was going on - and I was prepared for it - more so than when I had Lexi or even Sydney, so I just breathed through and dealt with it! About 8 hours after my contractions started I delivered him after about 3 sets of pushes! Plus side to that - it was over fast. Downside - his face was black and blue because it was fast!

He had his first BM while he was still inside, so it was pretty gross when they broke my water, but the plus to that was the RT (respiratory therapist) was already there, which was really good considering the cord was wrapped around his neck (contributing to the blueness) so when he didn't breathe after they cut the cord I didn't really freak out because I knew he was in good hands (and the best equipment!) My strongest memories from labor are how glad I was to have such a great support group in there with me! My sister Jan was a rock star - she seriously could be a labor coach, she was so calm and soothing for me :) Also having my my in-laws Tracy and Nicole in there with me was awesome - two nurses! I also remember when I started pushing Kevin's face looked so horrified/grossed out that I yelled at him to get away - move next to me so I couldn't look at his face - it freaked me out! And then, when his head was out the Dr. was trying to twist his shoulders/unwind the cord from his neck and so they were telling me not to push. Well, anyone who's been in labor knows that your body is pretty much taking over, and it's doing what it needs to in order to get the baby out - not pushing is pretty dang hard! Tracy got in my face and told me to pant so that I didn't push (otherwise, he could have broken his shoulder or collarbone, or ripped me up pretty bad.) Now, when I hear the word "pant" I think of Lexi acting like a puppy, so I automatically stuck my tongue out and panted like a dog!! I only did it for about 3 seconds before I realized what I was doing, but it's on tape, and it will forever be there!
All in all, I really couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery - I had a huge baby without hurting him or myself in the process (well, aside from the bruising.)The bruising went away after about a week, and now he is just so dang cute!









He's such a mellow baby - he just goes along for the ride with his sisters who just love him - a little too much sometimes! We are so blessed to have these beautiful, healthy and happy babies, and love being parents. Even with the throw up, dirty diapers and 2 am feedings!

Phrases

So until I can post the fun and gory details of my labor and delivery of Austin Craig, here is a list of phrases from that time that are sticking out in my mind the most.

1. Oh, snap this really hurts!
2. You don't mind interns do you?
3. Kevin if you answer that phone during one of my contractions again and you are within reaching distance I will punch you.
4. No, I don't WANT an epidural!
5. Okay, I think I want some IV meds now.
6. @$%#^&$%^@#$^*&*)()(%^^%%%&* (Okay, that part was internal, but I admit, it was there!)
7. Kevin, you have to move I can't stand the way you look so horrified!
8. Push! Wait, don't push! *sob!*
9. He's out!
10. He's huge!

I'll end the list there for now :) I will post the whole thing in a few days!