We're still alive

I just never get time it seems right now to update the blog, and right now you'll have to take an update even if there aren't photos. We are doing well -- Esther and Amy are loving summer. It is cute to watch them play together. For the most part, they're quite happy together. Sometimes they squabble.
Lena continues to charm us all -- she's becoming more charming the more she sleeps at night. :) That charms Ryan and me. We are loving her snuggles and she's so chubbalicious. More photos of her, sometime, I promise... but not today.

more photos

 Lena loves to be snuggled... she will hardly sleep unless she's being held. Amy is being a great big sister. :)

Esther loves little "leenie" too. :)

More photos of Lena

 Here is our family photo... too bad Ryan and I weren't wearing pink, ay?

 We love our new little one... Lena eats well, poops well, and we're hoping soon she'll sleep well at night. She seems to be more wakeful and easily fussy at night, which is a little tiring, but thankfully I know I can do hard things, because last summer I had insomnia without a cute baby to care for. It's much easier waking up for her than being awake for no reason.

 One with her peepers open. :) She's going to be a blue eyed baby just like our other girls.

I love these little cheeks... she is so much fun to snuggle. I'm taking advantage of enjoying the snuggles, because this age does not last long and once my girls start running around they never stop.

Lena

Here are some more photos of Lena. We sure love her. She's a dear. I'm learning to get by on less sleep again, and hope that I can adjust soon to life as the mother of three.

 Esther was so thrilled to meet the baby that had been in Momma's tummy... she has a Lena obsession and it's really cute to watch her. When she saw Lena for the first time she was so excited and just kept saying "Hi... baby! Hi... hi... baby!"

Amy also loves her baby sister. She's a good big sister.

Lena Jan Weight made her entrance this morning at 3:42 am, 9 lbs 4 oz, and very healthy with chubby cheeks. :)

She was several days over-due and my midwife was concerned that this little peanut was going to get too big and have problems getting hung up. Amy had shoulder distocia and was born at her due date, and my midwife was worried that this baby might have the same... so, after weeks of raspberry tea, long walks, and the like to get labor started, I'd just decided to wait for the baby to come when it did. But the conversation with the midwife made me concerned, so I asked Ryan for a blessing and asked his family and mine to pray that I would start labor. The power of prayer is real -- after days of having no consistent contractions, my labor started in earnest at 9:30, every 10 minutes. By 11:30 the contractions were coming strong and every 2 minutes, so we called the midwife and she came down with her assistant.

I labored a little in the shower, and then the contractions were quite intense and I chose to lay down on the bed during contractions. I listened to some peaceful music and tried to think of the contractions as a wave I was riding that I just needed 4-5 deep slow breaths to crest. Ryan would rub my back in between contractions and remind me to just take one at a time, and breathe slowly. He did such a good job supporting me. I felt  b I was coping alright, but they definitely were getting much more intense. With Esther, when they broke my water, I was a 7 and Esther was completely out 5 minutes later. Because I was starting to really struggle, I thought: I'll just have my water broken (an amniotomy) and then I'll be done. I was a 9 and mostly effaced. At 3:am, my midwife broke my water.

But, for whatever reason, it did not go quite that quickly. My cushion was gone. Ryan was going to deliver the baby with the midwife's assistance, so my Mom came in and held my hand as we waited for her to 'pop out', as it were. Contractions were really intense without my water and it was a real test of strength and endurance for me. Eventually my body started having the urge to push and my midwife was really good about coaching me through the urges so I wouldn't tear too bad.

Lena did have shoulder distocia -- much worse than what Amy'd had. My midwife had me change positions to all fours and pushed my one leg up so I was kneeling on one leg with the other leg tucked up to my chest. She had to reach in and help align the shoulders to help them out, and I had to push with all my might. Finally... that amazing release -- that relief when Lena's entire body slipped out. My midwife passed her up between my legs, and I got to see for myself that she was a girl. Our little Lena Jan!!

She nursed shortly after, and won us all over with her darling chubby cheeks. She is a really good baby. She eats, poops and pees well and is a delight to us all. Esther and Amy were very excited to wake up to a new big sister. Amy was not so sure she wanted a brother, so she felt very validated that it was Lena and not Jacob. I felt very validated when I discovered she was 9 lb 4 oz. No wonder pushing was more intense... but for all that, I hardly tore, and nothing that required stitches... A HUGE relief and blessing to me since I tore my stitches 3 days after Esther's birth doing something so simple as sitting up on the couch. It is a great comfort not having to worry about any stitches this time. I'm sure if I'd been in the hospital and not coached and coaxed through the pushing I would've torn something fierce.

My midwife and her assistant were great -- it was so different from the experiences I'd had at the hospital. They were so supportive and encouraging, and it felt like a team working together to help me bring Lena in the world. It was neat to have my Mom there, holding my hand and stroking my brow as I pushed for 45 minutes... kind of a neat bonding to have 3 generations of girls working together. My midwife and assistant cleaned up all the towels and the mess. Ryan held me as I held Lena and we just enjoyed the moment of holding this new daughter. She is so precious and dear to us already, and we feel very blessed that her entrance into this world was safe for her and for me.

Yard Projects

 So here are some comparison photos from what we've been doing with the yard... the gravel area is what I've been focusing on of late...

 I still have not taken pictures of the front, but here looking from the back, the little tree is gone, the big one cut back quite a bit. Now peas are growing up along the garden fence...

 Here in the front, the evergreen trees are gone, along with the two small trees... in place of the evergreens are large blackberry bushes, strawberries and pansies. In the hole of where the tree on the right was removed is a small black current bush start growing.

 This was that gravel area of the back... we built a planter box out of some scrap pieces of wood and my Mom filled it with the loveliest shade-tolerant flowers: forget-me-nots, bleeding hearts, columbine, pansies, lambs ear, mint, buttercup... it's beautiful!! It makes me happy every time I look at it!!

 Some spices planted in some bricks we found in the garden area...

 A sandbox Ryan made; pavers going from the deck down to the sandbox... eventually we'll get the gravel area filled in with more grass or some nice vigorous plant that doesn't mind little feet stepping on it or picking it.

The fence line is now lined with raspberry plants, which looks like they'll actually give us raspberries this year, and the big bush on the right is our third blackberry plant. We have a small strawberry patch planted also, and 4 grape plants, but it looks like two of them didn't survive, so in the fall we'll replace them also with raspberry canes or more strawberries.

We are still waiting for the baby to come. I am trying to learn patience, but I have to admit, it can be hard sometimes. We are excited to learn if it's a Lena Jan or a Jacob Ryan (who we'll nick-name Titus -- this is a good compromise Ryan and I came to).