Ellinor: Birth story part 2...

So apparently I need to do a follow up because Kris doesn't think that she remembers the event of Ellinor's birth well enough. So here goes...

 Hi I am Tyler, and this is one of my "few posts" that the 2 of you who read our blog (we have so many followers) will remember that I have referred to. First of all I am lucky. My wife is freaking amazing. I have read some birth stories and heard of people in this day and age who have natural birth. These women, in my mind, are some of the super heroes of our time.

So with that preface here we go...

Once upon a time Tyler and Kris were in so much love that they were expecting baby number 4 in our short almost 7 years of marriage.

Fast forward from conception to about 1 month ago. Ok 2 months ago. So Kris did a good job bringing you up to speed on the last trimester and the whole breech thing. In that trimester we moved from Independence to the Nashville area to accept a promotion. It was quick. They gave us a couple weeks to get moved. It happened quick.

I am not a fan of doctors. Over the years they have gotten very full of themselves and they think that they know so much more then the people that they are supposed to be making healthy. When it comes to health stuff we try very hard to educate ourselves as much as possible.

With that said we learned that the baby was breech which is not optimum. We were going to try to do everything we could to avoid a c-section. First they leave scars, and lets be honest girls don't like the scars. (they can't even get used to stretch marks :)) Moving on... Second the recovery from a c-section is not very good. Or at least it is not optimum...

So we tried to make the baby flip on our own. And to make a long story short it worked. (with out a bit of stress and effort.)

Here is where it get good. The whole doctor situation here in Nashville was not pleasant. All they wanted to do was see us for test they said were needed and then they would tell us why they were needed and explain to us by the vitals how they could tell we needed them. Then they would do the test and Kris would pass with flying colors. So why did we need to go 3 times a week? Ya exactly...

So lets get to the good stuff. As is normal for some one nearing their due date Kris was having many contractions and getting very uncomfortable. I could tell that we were getting close. I have seen this at least 3 times now. Sunday morning I woke up and saw Kris coming out of the bathroom and bent over to hold on to the dresser for a second and I heard her breathe pretty hard. "ALERT"!! Isn't that a sign that the baby is coming, when a women can't function because she is having contractions. YES!! Why was she in denial? Good question...

I didn't get ready for church and I told Kris that she needed to stop getting ready for church because we weren't going. She was very sure that she was fine and that we were going to go to church and maybe the hospital after church. I told her that wasn't going to happen. After getting the kids ready (and lots of bending over and holding onto things) she finally consented...  on one condition. We had to stop at the church and drop of her lesson plan... Ok fine. They babysitter came and Kris changed her clothes. We all prayed as a family and just as Kris stood up her water broke. I she said that with Carter her water broke right before she had him but that is not really right. She has had it broken by the Dr while she is in labor. So now as I am pushing her out the door I get her another pair of pants and a towel to sit on in the truck. With every contraction she squeals, not because of the pain but because of the water squeezing out when she had her contractions. Kinda funny.

Driving to the church to drop of the lesson plan the contractions start getting stronger. I don't want to deliver the baby in the car so I start driving faster and more aggressive. Yes I ran a couple stop lights. :) I make a quick stop and drop off the stuff and everyone is looking at me crazy because I am in my street clothes in church. I run back to the truck and head to the hospital. We get there and now Kris is really enjoying the contractions (not really) so much so that it is escaping her lips. I stop the truck by the emergency entrance and leave it there as I help her into the hospital. The security guard (yes there was a metal detector) was not really thinking because we walk in and Kris is holding onto his desk going softly "aaaaaa". Then I said " hey can we get a wheel chair?" Then it registered. O ya ok. Thanks bud. Then we have to be admitted  Some chick had just barley gotten to work and the home boy that was working the admitting station got us in the system and this chick was like hey just got here and I will take you upstairs right now. So we go upstairs and they have her get undressed which I pretty much had to do because at this point she isn't functioning well. She puts on the awesome hospital gown and lays on the bed. She gets checked and they tell us we are heading up stairs because she is dilated to a 7. Wow she is doing really good. We were planing on getting NOS for her pain instead of the normal needle in the back since that has caused permanent issues for her. FYI Vanderbuilt hospital is one of the only hospitals in the nation where they can use the gas in stead of the huge needle. Well we finally get up stairs to the labor and delivery room and they put us in a room. They ask what we want for pain. We say gas. They say ok. Kris is really feeling it by this point. Then all of the sudden she says " THE PAIN ISN'T GOING AWAY!" One of the nurses goes "ok and looks at her and then turns to another nurse and says get the doctor in here! Then they check her and the nurse says " GET THE DOCTOR IN HERE NOW!" Then it gets crazy. Kris starts screaming! Like for real. I have never heard her scream like that before. It was intense. The nurses are telling her to not scream because she need to hold her breath while she pushes. Then I am talking to her trying to help her but she doens't seem to pay attention because of... ya... pain... Kris all of the sudden looks at me and goes "HOLD THE BOTTOM OF MY FOOT!" I was holding her leg but I guess that wasn't good enough... They tell her to push again and then the head is crowning and all of the sudden Kris screams like a whole octave higher then she did before. It was strangely human and not at the same time... Then they pull out little Ellinor ( or as Carter calls her Nor. He can't say her whole name :)) Kris is doing much better at this point but still in pain then the doctor pulls out the after birth and then Kris lets out the big sigh of relief. Then all the post baby stuff happens weight and length and so forth. Kris turns to me and tell me that she wanted to punch the doctor in the face that told her the baby was to small and probably only going to be 5 LBS or so. I kind of chuckled. Then they asked Kris if she wanted to hold the baby but she wasn't ready. She was still shaking and couldn't get control of her self just yet. She finally held her and the rest is history.

Now having seen one of the most natural and spiritual, loving and amazing things that I have ever seen. I am so proud of my wife and can't really put into words how amazing she is! Words can't express the almost un-human experience of having a child. It takes strength that can't come from this world. I love my family! I love my wife more then I will ever be able to express.

I told her that she just set a new standard for birthing.... She is not sure that is a standard that will be met again. :)

   To be continued... (i mean another birth hopefully natural) or maybe I should say we will keep you updated...


 Tyler

Ellinor: A birth story

So, I haven't blogged in a very long time. Like, a year. It's terrible and I plan on starting back up again soon. I really need to record this birth story before I forget any details. So, here it goes. There may be some graphic information and details, so be warned. And it's really long...

This baby was due to arrive on November 16th. I thought it would be really neat if the baby came on the 14th, which is my grandma's birthday. I started seeing an ob out here in Nashville in October. I scheduled the appointment in September and I picked the closest doctor to Tyler's office so he could come with me and watch the kids. I should have known what kind of office this was since it took a month to schedule a new patient appointment even though I had already been seen for this pregnancy in Independence. I even asked the receptionist that I talked to on the phone if it was hard to make appointments at this office and he assured me it wasn't and that I needed a lot of time because I had an ultrasound scheduled as well as a new patient appointment. 

Finally, we go to the office and we wait for a long time to be seen. I get asked all of the beginning of pregnancy questions and I need to get a bunch of labs drawn because they didn't accept the labs I got done at my previous office. Then I talk to a doctor for about 10 minutes. He told me to head to the hospital if I'm in labor and that the on call doctor would deliver the baby if the mid wife that checked me decided I was in labor. It isn't important to me which doctor was there for delivery. Maybe it has something to do with it being my fourth child, but I knew that all the doctor was going to have to do for me was catch unless an emergency came up. I told the doctor that I was pretty sure this baby was breech and I was worried because I was 32 weeks and the baby hadn't flipped yet. I could feel the head right under my rib cage. I also didn't have the rib pain that I did with my other pregnancies whenever they kicked. It made for a comfortable pregnancy up to that point, but I was worried this baby wouldn't flip. The doctor told me that if the baby was breech we would try and manually flip the baby at 37 weeks and if that didn't work he would do a c-section at 39 weeks. I have never had a c-section and I will be perfectly happy with my life if I never get one. After that we went down to the ultrasound. They wouldn't let the kids come in at all because there were too many of them, and they didn't care that my husband would be there also. It ended up being a good thing since they wouldn't accept my 20 week ultrasound from my previous doctor's office and it lasted over an hour. Finally at the end they checked the baby's gender and I had to look away. Then a different doctor came in and told me that my baby had a low weight ( 9%, and they wanted the baby to be 10% or higher). The doctor and I even discussed how all of my children are small. I have never had a baby weigh 7 lbs. and my kids are all really healthy. He said that they still wanted to take the baby early just in case. I just let it slide. He also told me that I should see their nutritionist to help with the baby's low birth weight. I made the appointment and then cancelled it because it seems ridiculous that my diet is contributing to the baby's low weight. I know that I eat very healthy and I don't need to spend more money for someone to tell me that. I did get completely reassured that they baby was breech. So, I decided to do anything I could to get this baby to flip.

After the 4 hour long appointment there and my poor husband having to entertain all 3 kids in a waiting room the entire time, we felt like we had wasted our time. I knew everything was going well and we felt like the doctors we just trying to get as much money as possible and scare us into an induction. We did some online research to see how we could get the baby to flip. After we put the kids to bed Tyler helped me get upside down on the couch and then I put some frozen fruit on the baby's head. I could feel the baby moving her head to the side and then further, but it was really slow. I didn't feel the baby's head right under my ribs like I had before, but when Carter flipped at 22 weeks it woke me up from a dead sleep. He did a front flip and I could surely feel it. But, I didn't really feel this baby flip so I was really unsure. After my head started hurting I got off the couch. I made an appointment the next day to see a chiropractor that specialized in a technique that helps baby's flip. Because of the baby having a low weight I was scheduled to have an ultrasound every week to make sure the baby was still growing. I made the appointment for after the ultrasound in case the baby had flipped. I also had to go to the doctor on a different day every week to get a non-stress test done because I had a history of high blood pressure and it had been elevated at my first appointment. When we went back for the ultrasound the baby had flipped and was in the perfect position for delivery. Hallelujah! No chiropractor necessary. The ultrasound also confirmed that the baby was still in the 9th percentile. But, a baby's weight isn't completely accurate via ultrasound and I wasn't worried at all. When I went back for my non stress test my blood pressure was great. 

At my next doctor's appointment my blood pressure was great, but the doctor said they still wanted to induce me at 39 weeks. I was not happy about this. I feel very strongly that babies are born when they are ready and doctors are in the baby industry to make money and they aren't always trying to do what is best for the mother and baby. I have always felt this way and after this appointment I watched The Business of Being Born and the sequel to it (it's on netflix) and it really just confirmed to me what I already knew. The doctor was talking to me like I had no idea what I should do or what I should expect and this was my fourth baby to be born. We decided that since my blood pressure was great and the baby looked great and the placenta looked great (they said the baby could be small because the placenta wasn't providing the baby with everything she needed) that I would cancel all of my upcoming appointments. They didn't have any open appointments to see the doctor and they wanted me to come in 3 times a week when really everything was just fine with me and the baby. I made an appointment for the 13th of November (the next available) to see a doctor and I figured we would see how things were going then.

The next few weeks were basically the usual discomfort and contractions and exhaustion. I did lots of nesting and overall I felt really good for being pregnant. By the time we got to my next appointment we had almost gone to the hospital a few times, but I knew that the contractions needed to hurt and they needed to be consistent. Some of them hurt pretty good and sometimes they were consistent, but then I would go to sleep and I would wake up feeling good. On the night before my appointment I woke up with contractions and I couldn't go back to sleep so I spent 2 hours in the tub until they let up for a little while. At my appointment the doctor said I was dilated to a 3 and I was 50-75% effaced. I figured she would try and talk me into getting induced as soon as possible and it was tempting because I was so ready to not have contractions and be pregnant anymore. But, to my surprise the doctor told me that the hospital was booked all week (Thanksgiving was the next week) and I would have to wait until the following week to be induced. I told her that I didn't want to be induced and she said that because of the baby's size I shouldn't go over 41 weeks. I just said ok and I figured if the hospital called I just wouldn't answer my phone haha! 

I kept having contractions all week. My due date on Friday came and went and I kept making sure everything was clean and ready to go. On Saturday the girls had a primary ice cream party at the church that they were really looking forward to. I had contractions all morning and they were hurting a bit. I timed them and they were 9 minutes apart. I asked Tyler to come with us so that he could drive because I didn't feel good about driving (20 minutes to the church and back) with contractions like this. So, we headed to the store to get dairy free ice cream and then to the church and we hung out there for an hour. I was still having contractions. I had contractions all day long and they hurt, but not enough to go to the hospital and they weren't very close together. So, I just went to sleep like normal that night and I slept just fine. I remember waking up around 4:00 am to use the bathroom (which was not unusual) but I felt like there was some pressure on my bladder more than normal. I didn't worry about it and I went back to sleep just fine. 

I woke up the next morning for church around 7:30 and I got in the shower like usual. When I got out of the shower my contractions started up again. This time they were worse than yesterday and it was harder to get ready. I kept going like normal and just brushed them off. I was not going to the hospital until they hurt and they were pretty close together but I kept telling Tyler that I didn't think this was it and if it was, we were not having a baby until late that night at the soonest because these contractions did not hurt enough. I kept having to hold onto things while I was getting ready and I couldn't stand for very long and I definitely couldn't stand unsupported during contractions. Finally, Tyler talked me into timing them and they were about 6 minutes apart. But, I didn't think they hurt enough. I felt like I could definitely make it to church and do my singing time with the primary. Tyler didn't get ready for church and he made a bunch of phone calls setting things up for someone to cover his lesson at church and my singing time. I finally agreed to not go to church and I got the kids bathed and dressed in play clothes.

I took my time packing up all of our stuff and all the stuff the kids would need for the next few days. Tyler's brother Colton came over so we could go and I still dragged my feet and explained things to him and cleaned things. Tyler was quickly packing up the truck and then he was pressuring me to get in the truck so we could go. I put on my coat and we all said a prayer. As the prayer ended, my water broke. I went to go change my clothes and Tyler said no. He told me to just get in the truck. I did not want to wear my wet pants. Tyler packed me a clean pair of pants, but he would not let me change and he made me go out to the truck. He got me a towel to sit on just in case. My water only broke on its own once, and that was right before Carter was born. So, that was a new experience for me. 

We were going to take the library books back first so I wouldn't get any late fees while we were at the hospital, but the contractions were 4 minutes apart so we didn't. We had to stop at the church to drop off my singing time lesson on the way and the hospital was about 40 minutes away. We got to the church right before sacrament meeting started (1:00) and Tyler pulled up front and ran in really fast. I kept thinking that he didn't need to hurry so much. He even asked me to look up the fastest way to the hospital from the church because the church was a little way off the freeway. We had to go back the way we came and we still had a 25 minute drive to the hospital. My contractions were now about 3-4 minutes apart and they were really hurting. I could not talk during them and I was holding onto the door handle the whole time. During almost every contraction my water would break more and I could feel wetness leaking further and further down my legs. They only lasted about a minute, so I just kept thinking it wasn't that bad and that the baby still wouldn't come for a while. 

We finally got to the hospital and Tyler pulled up in front of the adult emergency entrance and grabbed a few bags and took me in. As soon as we got in he got me a wheel chair. I remember feeling really stupid walking into this full emergency room and it looked like I wet myself. Tyler talked to the guy behind the counter who didn't really know what to do (seriously?) and he went and got someone else. Then security was freaking out over our truck parked in front so Tyler went outside to take care of it. I just remember holding onto my wheelchair really tight during my contractions and they were really hurting. I just wanted to get in there and get my anesthesia. A lady who just got in there (I don't know if she was a nurse or what) told the guy at the front desk that she would take us up to labor and delivery. It was a bumpy ride up which I did not like. 

We pulled up to the fourth floor and I got taken to a little area divided by curtains. My contractions were really bad at this point and it was really hard to get undressed. Tyler basically did it all for me and I laid on the uncomfortable bed. They had put a pad down on the floor under me while I was undressing because my water kept leaking. The nurse said that my water looked great because it was clear. I looked down and I could see what was probably my mucus plug and I told her that it looked bloody to me and she said that was normal, but my water looked good and the baby didn't have a bowel movement in it that we should worry about. The mid-wife didn't have a big window of time to check me because my contractions were really close together. But, when she did, she told me I was at a 7. I remember thinking that was awesome because I could still get anesthesia and it wouldn't be too long before the baby was born. They took me over to a delivery room and started asking me questions.

This next part is a little blurry. I am just going to tell you what happened from my point of view. I remember hearing Tyler tell the nurse that we wanted to try Nitrous-oxide (it just happened to be available at my hospital and I really don't enjoy getting an epidural because my vertebrae are close together and my back hurts where I got it done before). Then I remember getting another contraction. This contraction hurt so much that my entire lower body started shaking.  I know I was making some noise and I was wondering why no one seemed to care because I wanted someone to come and take this horrible pain away. I was laying on my side and squeezing the bed rails so hard. I was afraid if I moved it would somehow hurt worse. Then another contraction came not more than a minute later and I felt a horrible pain and intense pressure. I felt my body push without me doing anything. I had never gotten this far naturally before and it felt like nothing I have ever felt before. The pressure was so intense and it hurt so much. I turned to Tyler and said "the pain isn't stopping" then I had another contraction and I felt myself push again. The nurse got a worried look on her face and lifted up my sheet. I'm not sure if they saw the top of her head or what but she started yelling things. I remember hearing "doctor" and "we're having a baby!" Then all of these ladies come into the room and are crowded all around me. They made me move to the middle end of the bed and they keep asking me questions. I couldn't really process what anyone was saying and so Tyler answered most everything for me. When I had a contraction I just started to push and then they would tell me to do something and I had no idea what anyone said. I yelled at Tyler do grab the bottom of my foot like another nurse was doing to my other foot so I had something to push off of. I knew at this point that the baby was coming now and I just wanted to get this over with because it all hurt so much. I know I was screaming and I also know I couldn't stop. I just kept pushing with each contraction. Someone told me to look down so I could watch and I didn't want to. I just wanted this baby out so the pain would stop. Finally (after probably 3 or 4 pushes) her head was out and I felt a little relief then I pushed her body out and I felt even better. A nurse told Tyler to tell us all if it was a boy or girl and he said "definitely a girl." I remember that vividly. Then I felt another contraction and I was still in pain. I pushed the after birth/placenta out and I felt so much better. I could relax for a moment and not feel that pain. I looked down at the little girl on my stomach and I just tried to see who she looked like and I couldn't see anyone in her. She didn't look like anyone else a whole lot at this point. They asked me if I wanted to hold her and I said not yet but I asked if Tyler could hold her instead. They told me that she weighed 6 lbs 10 ounces and she was 20 inches long. I remember telling Tyler that I should punch the doctor in the face that told me our baby wouldn't be more than 5 1/2 lbs. I remember a nurse saying that I was GBS positive (group b strep) and another nurse saying "it's too late now." A nurse asked us a whole bunch of questions that they usually ask before you have the baby and then another nurse told us that we would probably have to stay 48 hours because I tested GBS positive and I didn't get any antibiotics. So, the pediatrician wanted to be sure that the baby didn't have an infection. 

It was all really fast. I asked what time she had been born and they said 2:02, which was an hour after we dropped off my lesson plans at the church and only about 20 minutes after we pulled up to the hospital. I had no idea she would be born so quickly. I didn't get an IV or pain relief. I didn't need any stitches afterwards. I was able to get up and use the bathroom right after she was born. I felt really great afterwards minus those horrible post-birth contractions. It was really hard to stay in the hospital for 2 days. I just wanted to go home and I was so bored there. Tyler stayed with me the first night and then he had to go pick up the kids on the evening of the 2nd day and he stayed the night with them. The baby had no signs of jaundice and her white blood cell count was good (it would be elevated if she had an infection) and her vitals and temperature were all really good. So, first thing the next morning she got her state screen done and she got her hearing test redone since she failed it the day before and she passed it. So, we were both ready to go in the morning and all the doctors said it was fine. I ended up having to wait for Tyler and the kids to get there and then I paged the nursery to come take off her GPS tag (they took that GPS chip that was on her skin very seriously and it could not even be bumped without going off) and to bring all the discharge paperwork. That took a while too. But, we left a little after 11:00, so not quite 48 hours later. And we dropped off the library books on our way home.

I guess I should probably write down how we named her. I came up with Alivia's name but we both really liked it and felt like it suited her. We could not come up with another girl name that we both liked for Kate. I really wanted Violet and I still think that name suits her, but Tyler really didn't like it. So, a few weeks before she was born I wrote down a list of 40 names that I liked and I put stars by my favorites. Kate was on that list and without a star. I was hoping he would choose at least 2 names so I could choose one. But, Tyler saw Kate and that was it. That was the name he wanted and I was tired of trying to find one we could agree on, so I agreed. Alivia's middle name is Jean after my grandma. I promised my mom when I was young that I would name my daughter after her mom and Jean was her middle name. I decided I would keep that promise. Kate's middle name is Marlyn after Tyler's grandma Smith. She was really special to him and he wanted to name her after her. We both decided that if we had another girl we would name her after my grandma Elaine because she has always been there for us and she was such a wonderful part of my childhood. I hoped I would have another girl, but I honestly didn't think it would happen. We thought this baby would be a boy and we even had a name picked out. Since we didn't find out the gender, we decided that Tyler would name the baby if it was a boy and I would name it if it was a girl. His boy name wasn't my favorite, but I agreed to it. I came up with Ellinor. I came up with Ellinor before we found out we were pregnant and Tyler said he thought the name was just ok. I figured I would just talk him into it and it would grow on him. He really hates talking about names, and I really love talking about names. So, right before I was due I told him that I wanted to still name her Ellinor and he said he really didn't like it. I didn't want to pick a name that he totally hated. So, while in the hospital I tried out a few of the other names I had on my little list. None of them felt right and Tyler wasn't really offering anything up as far as which name he liked best. He just kept saying that it was up to me. I felt a lot of pressure to make both of us happy. But, Tyler didn't seem excited about any of the names I had suggested. I even did a web search of names like Ellinor, hoping that I would find something he did like. It was almost time for him to leave to go get the kids and he said to me "just name her Ellinor and I will call her Elli." He had tried to talk me into naming her Elli, and I didn't want to. I told him we could call her Nora and he didn't like that. He likes the name Elli, so I imagine we will call her that most of the time. I really love the name Ellinor. We discussed how we would spell it because Eleanor is kind of a strange spelling. I just found out that it is a french name, so maybe that's why it's spelled that way originally. I don't really know. So, her full name is Ellinor Elaine. The name has grown on Tyler, I think, and he is in love with her. I didn't ever imagine us having a house full of girls, but I know we were meant to raise these children and we will do it the best that we can. 

Ellinor is now 2 weeks old and she has been lots of fun. She has also made us really tired. The kids love to help with her and give her kisses. Sometimes they over stimulate her and she gets upset, but she handles the attention pretty well. She finally doesn't cry during her baths and diaper changes and she sleeps more during the night than during the day. She has hair like Liv and right now it basically sticks straight up all the time. I love it! I wish I could pull off that kind of look and still look totally adorable. She smiles quite a bit and the  kids get excited every time. We really just love having her in our family and the girls love helping to pick out her clothes. They prayed for a baby sister and that is exactly what they got!

Date nights!

Typically, when Tyler or I have an errand or 2 to run we switch off taking a single child with us. That way they each get to spend individual time with us (especially Tyler) and it makes them feel special.

Over the summer I decided to take these lovely ladies out on a "date" and we sure enjoyed it. We went and got ice cream. Whatever kind they wanted, except bubble gum because I don't let my kids eat gum. I know, I'm mean. But, they have such lovely hair, and I want to keep it that way ;)

Since Kate does everything her sister does, they both chose cotton candy

I took them outside to eat on the benches and I let them go hog wild

By the end, they looked like this...

I sure love these girls. I'm so glad they like to be with me and that we get to do things together. I had fun just watching and talking with them.

If you have children, then you must know that date time is limited. I think we actually leave the house for dates about once a year, maybe twice. Our typical date night involves cuddling up to a movie and sometimes a snack. I love it, though. I don't have to worry about the kids, or what to wear and we have fun together.

So, when the opportunity came up to go on our yearly date, we decided to make it worthwhile. Part of that involved these lovely people...

Meet Jon & Becky Tolman!

They are our good friends out here in Independence and perhaps the only people that would go on a date that involved looking ridiculous in public.

All 4 of us went to Salvation Army and picked out our spouses outfit. It was so fun looking at the clothing and then trying it all on in the dressing room together. I had tears of laughter for most of the night, and it was so worth it!

One of my favorite moments of the nights is depicted in the next picture. Let me explain a little bit...

We were running late to our reservation. So, we grabbed our bags of clothing and hopped into the Tolman's minivan. Jon was driving, and Tyler was in the front seat. Becky and I quickly got dressed in the very back seat, while Tyler decided to change in the front seat. Since the 3 of us were ready to go, the guys switched spots at the next red light. Jon finally gets changed into his too small boots (sorry, Jon, I feel terrible about that). We soon realize that a lady is driving right next to us and is staring at the guys. She had no idea that Becky & I were in the back seat because the windows were tinted. Jon put his boot on the dash and did a nice pose for her and I snapped this picture...

We went to eat at Cinzetti's, which is an Italian buffet. Which means we had to keep getting up and walking around in our ridiculous clothing the whole night.

We took these pictures when we got to the restaurant.

Becky sported a one piece suit/jumper thing with a pink scarf, purple slippers, and her hair pulled through little girls tights on her head.

I got to wear a shirt that said "eternity fraternity" with a cheerleading skirt. The skirt ended up being too short, so I had to wear a slip underneath. I got pink slippers and girls leggings to wear on my head.

Oh the guys, they looked incredible. Let's start with Jon...

Jon is wearing pleather pants with a broken zipper. So, Becky decided to get him a long enough top to cover that. The top is an extra large women's lingerie piece, complete with gold sequins at the plunging neckline. He has on some black army type boots and a Miami Ink hat.

Tyler was the lucky recipient of a 2 piece women's suit. I came across both pieces in different parts of the store before I realized they went together. The print is an assortment of jewelry, ya know, gold chains and rubies and such. I got him a blue undershirt to cover his plunging neckline along with a green cab driver type hat. To finish the look, I added long Christmas socks and some foam slip on sandals in a brown color.

Becky and I couldn't decide who looked best, Tyler or Jon? What do you think?

I am so very grateful for the friends I have made here and for the many opportunities we have been given in Missouri.

Summer highlight

I'm going to be completely honest with you. Potty training is not something I enjoy. It is frustrating, and time consuming, and smelly. But, I do prefer to not change or buy diapers. So it must be done. It took a lot of waiting until Kate was ready. But, finally she was. We did the whole not wearing a stitch of clothing on the bottom half for a while. It saves on laundry and it has helped my kids get the picture. Like, "where does it come out?" and "where does it need to go?" It just works this way, so I stuck with it.

Kate, being her usual self, is very particular about everything. She likes to do things the same way and establish a routine/pattern. While establishing a bathroom routine, she did a lot of interesting things.

One of them being, moving the potty chair to different places

Sometimes she would use the big toilet and uh...inspect it all

She had no problem going when someone else was in there. Usually her sister.

Sometimes she would even snack while in there...

Lets get a close up of that....

Is she wiping, while still holding the jerky? Maybe I don't want to know the answer to that one.

Anyhoos, it was a journey. Full of lots of up and downs and funny moments. But, we are all very happy that she reached this milestone.

There has not been a shortage of cheering around here, even if she does it herself...

She is now completely potty trained during the day. She started having a few accidents everyday. First, I told her she couldn't watch tv for the whole day if she wet her pants. That wasn't working. This week, I made her sit in time out for 2 minutes when she wet her pants. It worked like a charm and we've had no accidents since.

She still prefers to go with no pants or panties on at all and I typically have to help her put them back on. I'm just gonna blame that problem on her Uncle Parker :)

Since she is still in diapers/pull ups at night, every morning when the girls wake up (Kate always wakes up Liv) they go potty together and Liv helps her put panties on. It's very sweet. They love to go potty together, which must mean they are 100% girl :)

I am so grateful for how fast my kids learn and grow. Sometimes I wish they could just stay little longer, but I love that they are so smart and are learning so much. I am also grateful to be buying less diapers ;)

Oh what did we do in the summertime?

We had a super fun summer this year, minus the humidity. We even got to see most of our favorite people. We are still really missing everyone we left behind and we hope to visit everyone we love and miss as soon as we can. Here is a little recap of our summer happenings...

We did lots of fun things in our cooler than outside home. Some of these things include, but are not limited to, dressing up:

creating masterpieces:

and yes, she posed for this all on her own

playing with Daddy cause he's the most fun

creating new hairstyles

(we even gave Grandma corn rows :)

playing nicely together

doing puzzles

(she seriously amazes me with how well she does these)

Liv's legit afro

I take no credit for the pose

We spent lots of time at the splash pad cooling off

We also learned an important lesson about choosing the right splash pad. Even though it is closer to your house and has less people does not mean it is not redneck. I never went to that splash pad again, and I even bribed the kids to leave with promises of ice cream cones.

The boy enjoyed making messes of any kind

But don't worry, we ate plenty of good food:

And we got plenty of rest:

We hope your summer was as fun as ours.

I am so grateful for these children of mine. They make life so much more fun and interesting. There is never a dull moment in our house. Even when I make mistakes, they always love me and forgive me unconditionally. I hope to have many more years of memories with them.