So much has happened!!! Micah got into immersion school at Eisenhower! We are so thrilled! She will be in French. We got our house an MLS # and we have gotten a ton of traffic. It’s definitely encouraging! We also found a house to buy. It’s 2 blocks from my parents :/ but it’s got awesome rivertrail access, it’s a minor fixer-upper, it’s a little bigger than our current one, and it’s got a great back yard. The best part, however…it’s $55000!!! A little over half what we paid here! At this point, it’s a good thing that no other jobs have panned out since we will have 2 mortgages to pay. Nonetheless, we are so thrilled and life is crazy right now!
Micah’s been having a hard time behaving at school, but her teachers feel like she is bored. We were thinking the same thing, but we didn’t want to try to justify her behavior. So it was very encouraging to hear her teachers say so.
Chandler is growing like crazy…50-75% in weight and 75-90% in height! Big girl! She’s not sitting up yet…I think she’s too wiggly. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if she started to crawl soon.
Tate is doing pretty well with potty training…he rarely has accidents these days. He still is not thrilled to go to school most days but he likes his teachers and his friends. I guess he’d still just rather hang out with us!
That’s all I got!

Ok, so…things are going ok for us. We got Micah’s application turned in to the Spanish Immersion school, Eisenhower Elementary. We are going to buy an MLS # for our house this week. I have an interview for a part time job and I really hope it works out. However, if it does, I’m really scared! Way less money, no insurance…we’d definitely be scramblin. But I am determined to make it work. Chandler is growin like crazy. She’ll be 5 months on the 14th. She was sleeping all night (from 7:30ish to 7ish with one wake-up around 11pm) UNTIL…she got a nasty cold. She was having trouble breathing through her nose, and she was coughing a lot. Her appetite was also down, so she was waking more frequently at night to eat. Dang, I was really enjoying those couple weeks of solid sleep, too. Ah well, such is life. Micah’s working hard at school and managing to stay on green most of the time. She is so close to being able to read! Tate is doing fairly well with potty training, and we’ve been having him wear big boy underwear. He does well when he wants to. He can do it, but he just isn’t interested all the time. I guess it’s nice to have that diaper on, when you don’t even have to stop playing to go pee or poop. Yuck! I made some wool diapers for him and Chandler, which are pretty amazing! I’m trying to get used to washing them separately, though. Haven’t gotten the routine down yet. We got a ton of wool sweaters from the thrift stores, so I have plenty of material. Just gotta sit down and make them!
My dad’s book came out about a month or 2 ago. Pretty awesome! He’s also teaching at TCC, Oklahoma Wesleyan, University of Phoenix, and OBU. Whew! If only some of those were permanent positions, he’d be a happy camper.
Well, I’m not sure what else to write…so good night!

I can’t seem to keep up. Christmas, New Year’s Day, and January have come and gone. We had a great holidays, except for some drama that was really disappointing. But oh well, I’ll get over it, someday. Hopefully sooner rather than later. We have been going cycling quite a bit. Well, quite a bit for us, anyway. About once a week. We’d like to go more, but we don’t have enough daylight in the evenings. The kids are doing well. Micah struggles to behave herself at Pre-k but does pretty well when she tries. She’s working on her letters and numbers and is very close to being able to read. We are getting ready to apply for her to go to a language immersion school–keeping our fingers crossed!! I think she has about a one in three chance of getting in…??? Not exactly sure.
Tate is still potty training…I have a feeling he always will be! Haha, just kidding. He was almost totally day time trained, until a few things happened. First, his favorite teacher at his daycare (who really got him started in the first place) left the daycare. Then, the holidays came and he spent a couple weeks at home with Daddy and/or Mommy. And who knows, maybe the reality of Chandler finally hit him. I don’t know but what I do know is that he pretty much gave completely up after those things happened. The good news is, his favorite teacher came back! He is also getting used to going to school every day and is adjusting pretty well (I think??) to Chandler. So potty training is going better now! He does the best when he is naked. Obviously he can’t be naked at daycare so we are just having a slow go at it. But that’s ok.
Chandler is now at the daycare, too. It’s a good thing we love their teachers, because we practically have to give an arm for them to go there! It’s more than our mortgage, for Pete’s sake! So Chandler has been going since the beginning of January, and just last week she started to eat more than an ounce or two ALL DAY LONG. Poor kid does NOT care for bottles. About mid last week she started taking more and has been doing pretty well. She’s stubborn, that one!
I am still determined to find part-time work. I am so tired of working 40 hours every week. I feel like time is slipping away! Jake is doing some carpentry, some web design, and some art. So he has some variety, which is nice. Our house is STILL on the market, and at the end of this month we are hoping to get an MLS listing to get things moving.
That’s a pretty good update, no?

Dangit! I was going to update and I didn’t. Oh well. Things are good around here…Chandler is growing like a weed (over 2 lbs in a month! And an inch and a quarter.) She is very smiley, too! Her bigs love her so much–of course! We knew Micah would be great, but Tate…we were a little worried about him. Tate is such a little loverboy, especially when it comes to his Mom!! But he is a trooper and he is taking things in stride. He has been working toward potty training for several months now–totally on his own! We thought it would be pointless to try that before Chandler was born, but he started just doing it anyway! He’s still doing really well, too. He does best if he’s totally naked from the waist down. If he has pullups on, he doesn’t even try. We have some cloth trainers for him, and those work a little better. And we have some regular underwear that he does ok in. But it seems like if he is covered in any way, he has more accidents. Goofy kid. So he’s adjusting to his new sister pretty well. At first, he was throwing some pretty major fits, which I’m sure had something to do with it, but on the other hand, he’s always struggled with those! Especially when he first wakes up in the morning. That kid is so emotional, especially when it comes to food! He did also tell me a few times, “Put Chandler down!” (But since he can’t say his R’s, it sounded more like ‘Chandlew’) That was just a few days after she was born though. Chandler is starting to sleep at night a little longer, which of course is a plus. She might go 4 or 5 hours at a shot. So of course that helps everyone’s sanity. So I’d say all in all, we’re doin pretty good!
Micah is in pre-K, and she’s doin ok. Her work is excellent, but she has a little trouble with acting goofy when she is supposed to be listening. Now, she needs to be following directions and obeying what her teacher says. But since she just turned 5 (she’s so young!), I’m not too concerned. What I don’t like is that she’s in such a structured program. She’s 5, she needs to be playing! She’ll be in school for a loooong time. I read an article that said that preschools are getting more and more structured with more information and work, and becoming less and less focused on play. Playing is how little kids learn. According to the article, they should learn primarily by play until they are at least 7. My mother in law, who teaches 1st grade, said that the first graders are now required to learn what used to be 2nd grade curriculum. Things are getting pretty heavy on these kids. Makes me sad. But on the upside, Micah is a bright girl, and she enjoys school! She loves her new friends and really excels with her work. She’s a good kid.
Jake has been doing more art, and we are hoping that he can get more business doing murals and such. He is getting tired of carpentry and remodels. Art is his true love, and of course it’d be awesome to be able to make a living from it. He is also doing some web design, which is kind of a welcome break as well. I’m so proud of that guy! We recently celebrated our 7th anniversary! Wow!!! I feel old, haha!! But seriously, what a great 7 years it has been.
So…until next time!

**WARNING** Birth story ahead–beware possible graphic details!!

Ok, so the plan was to use self hypnosis and deliver naturally without the help of drugs, etc. Of course, we all know that just because that was the plan, doesn’t mean that’s what will actually happen!

On Wednesday the 12th (my due date!) I saw my dr. and I was dilated 5cm and mostly effaced. My dr. knew that I wanted to go naturally, so she didn’t bring up induction much prior. However, that day, she did. She said that she was afraid that I would deliver in the car on the way to the hospital since I was so progressed already. I told her my concerns with pitocin and how I wanted to avoid it, so she said that we could try just breaking my water and see what happens. Then, if that didn’t kick start labor, then maybe using just a tiny dose of pitocin. So I caved and scheduled the induction. I figured I’d rather do that than deliver in the car, right?

So, Friday was the day and I just hoped and hoped that things would happen naturally before then. No such luck. So we went in, got settled, and the dr. broke my water at 8:30am. I was close to 6cm dilated by that time. There was also a tiny bit of meconium in the fluid, so the NICU nurses would be there to make sure all was well. My nurse checked me, and she got concerned that she couldn’t feel the baby’s head. So she ordered an ultrasound to make sure she was head down, and she was. She was just really high. She told me that’s why I wasn’t in labor, because my baby was hanging out up near my tonsils. After having my water broken, I was wanting to get up and walk around to see if that would help get things going, but since Chandler was so high, my dr. was concerned that the cord would come down ahead of her head (cord prolapse), which would not be good. That would be considered an emergency, and would warrant a cesarean. So we waited. Then when nothing happened for 2 hours, the dr. wanted to go ahead with pitocin. I was annoyed because I figured it’d take at least that long for anything to happen, but oh well. So she gave me 1 unit of pitocin. The nurse told me that for the average induction, they start the patient out with 6 units, so that made me feel a little bit better. My contractions did pick up, but they were erratic and not frequent, so after 2 more hours, she upped it to 2 units of pitocin. That pretty much did it, and those contractions were frequent and painful. The hypnosis helped me relax and focus, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the anesthesia through hypnosis happen like it had been happening when I practiced. It’s too bad you can’t effectively practice labor till you’re in it. I used the birth ball and changed positions, but I couldn’t do much since I was being monitored. Policy is that once you’re on pitocin, you have to have continuous monitoring. So between 7 and 8cm, I told Jake that I didn’t know but I think I might need that epidural. He told me how great I was doing, and he helped me relax a little more. He knew that I would regret it if I caved at that point. So I asked for some Stadol, and that helped even more with the deep relaxation. So on we went, and I felt like I was holding back some, so I guessed I was wanting to push. They told me to go ahead and push when I felt the need, even though baby was still pretty high. Pushing would help her move down. So I pushed some, then the dr. realized she was posterior (sunny-side-up). So she had me get on my hands and knees and push some like that. Whew, turning over was not fun, but we did it. So I pushed for awhile like that, and that seemed to help her turn over. (I don’t get that???) I do remember one of the NICU nurses saying, “I thought she didn’t get an epidural??” and someone else told her I didn’t, and she said, “Wow, she’s doing great!” So that was encouraging! I tried to do mother-led pushing, but it was not real effective. The nurse told me it would help to hold my breath and bear down, so I said ok. And boy did it. Things moved quickly after that. I pushed more and her head was almost out, and the dr. told me it would help to lie back a little more. I did not want to, since it was so painful, but I did. Before that, I had been pushing sitting just about completely upright, and even holding myself off the bed with my hands to push. When they leaned me back, I nearly cried! But I pushed some more and out came her head. After that, I thought the hard part was over, but they said her shoulders were stuck so they threw my bed back and told me to push as hard as I could. I did, and the urgency scared me a little, but she came right out. Whew!!!!

They gave her to me, but I was so out of breath and tired that I could barely hold her. The dr. said I had a first degree tear from her size and shoulders, so she repaired it. It wasn’t as terrible as I thought. Since labor didn’t really start until that 2nd dose of pitocin, I would say my labor lasted about 2 hours.

So, baby Chandler was 8lbs 14oz, 21″ long! She was born at 2:14pm on the 14th of October. Micah was 7lbs 4oz, 19 1/4″ and Tate was 7lbs 15oz, 20 1/2″! I guess I picked the wrong one to go naturally with. Haha! She also had a touch of bruising on her face from before she turned from the posterior position. Nothing too pitiful looking, though.

So all in all, I call it ‘almost’ natural since I had 2 drugs that I wouldn’t have otherwise had (pitocin and stadol). But I did get by without the epidural and it was ok! I am disappointed that I didn’t get my internal anesthesia going though. That would have been nice!! Even so, just learning how to relax my body and mind to such a deep level was sooo helpful! I really believe it helped me work with my body, rather than against it. Fear and tension only make pain worse, so letting go of it has the capability of erasing a lot of pain, just from positive thinking! I read the Hypnobirth book by Marie Mongan, and decided that reading it wasn’t enough and that I needed someone to show me how to do the self hypnosis. So we saw a hypnotherapist that has a class for childbirth, and it was great! I highly recommend it.

Ugh, seriously?! I can’t believe I’m still pregnant! Tate was born a week early so I just assumed that this one would be at least a week early…I should know better than to assume. Definitely made an ass out of me! Haha.
Well, I’ve definitely gotten some great naps in, but enough is enough already. If only I wanted to clean more…nah. My ankles and feet look terrible! Way worse than last time. I should take a picture.
Well, if this kiddo is not born by Wednesday, I guess we’ll be inducing. My doctor offered to induce me on Thursday, and I said Yes!! But then I realized that Jake is right, if we induce, our plans for natural childbirth are more likely to fail. Oh man…it’s tempting! We are planning to use hypnosis and deep relaxation and I think it will work beautifully. I’m just ready to try it out!
I had my birthday yesterday–can’t believe I’m 32! Wow, time really flies.
Here’s my picture of my displeasure of still being pregnant. I’ll have to get a good feet one soon.

Well, I officially suck at blogging. Ah well, what can I say, I do my best. I am currently 37 weeks pregnant and just trying to be patient. I only have one week and one day left of work, and I think that is harder for me than anything. I’m ready for Miss Chandler to arrive, but I just want a good nap first! I don’t know if I said on this blog, but we are planning to name her Chandler Ellen. I’ve had a harder time with this pregnancy than the others, but I know when it’s over I’ll be sad. Pregnancy is just so awesome!
Micah started pre-K in August and that has been pretty fun for her. Jake’s mom seems to think that she’s a genius and that’s why she has trouble sometimes following directions and talking back. I personally think she just needs a good beating, but…who knows! Just kidding. She’s an awesome kid and she’s definitely ridiculously smart. And she’s such a great sister. She loves Tate sooo much! The other day he was throwing a fit about something while we were in the car and he just screamed and screamed. Jake said, ‘I’m gonna punch him in the stomach!’ or something along those lines. Micah heard him and she said, ‘Daddy, please don’t punch him! He’s a good boy, even though he’s being naughty right now.’ Awww! Jake assured her that he was kidding and he would never, ever do such a thing.
Tate is getting big, and he’s even gone peepee in the little potty a few times! It’s amazing what bribery with a sucker can accomplish. His vocabulary has just grown by leaps and bounds, and he speaks much more clearly these days. He’s such a little handsome devil, too. Of course! He’s a big kid–he’s in the 60th percentile for weight and 93rd for height! I’m just loving that my kiddos are tall since I’m not!
Well, I would write more, but I’m at work and my patient is here! I’ll have to post again sooner next time!

I leave the writing and story telling to Wandis, I will just post some recent pics.

This is part of the longest drawing in the world. It has seen plenty of action from Micah, Tate and Myself

Another Pic of it, still not even close to all of it.

The kiddos helping me with one of my bicycle builds.

From the Kiddie Park in Bartlesville, OK (please excuse the pit stains the heat index was somewhere around 178 degrees)

So, July is half gone now. It seems like this summer is crawling, but I didn’t think 6 weeks had gone by since my last post! I’m looking forward to cooler weather, but I don’t think we’ll have relief until after this kiddo is born. This summer is the hottest since 1980! Wow! We even had a nice long spring, then BAM! 100′s in June! Ugh, summer.
I really need to post some more pics, but I have been posting some from work and don’t have access. Oh well.
Let’s see, what’s going on with us?? Not much…I went to Norman mid-June for a CE meeting, that was nice. It would’ve been really nice if Jake and the kids could’ve come with, but it was still pretty nice. I didn’t know what to do with myself for 3 days. I watched a lot of cable, unfortunately! But it was still wonderful.
Jake and I went to Kansas City last weekend, which was a blast, as usual. We always want to take the kids, but we’d have to stay in a hotel and be in for the night by 7 or 8. So we left them with their grandparents, once again. Our friends Chris and Lauren are getting married in November, and we’d really like to go. However, their wedding will be in Florida (Orlando, I think) and I just don’t think we can swing it.
I have been looking for part time jobs recently, but there are just not a lot out there. I am so tired of being away from the kids 5 days a week. Most hygienists work 3 or 4! Creek Nation won’t let me work part time, which really sucks. *sigh* I have a feeling I’ll be here forever.
The kids are as cute as ever…Micah leaves us in stitches most of the time, and so does Tate. The other night she had a nightmare and managed to take off her underwear without waking up. All she had on was the tshirt she slept in. When she woke up the next morning, she came into our bedroom and said to Jake, “Daddy, I have something very important to tell you about my bed, my panties, and my ‘gina.” (vagina) She was very serious. And very cute! And of course Tate, he’s as emotional as ever, especially about food. His vocabulary and speech is getting better by the day. He loves dinosaurs, Diego, Thomas, bugs, airplanes, motorcycles, helicopters, you name it. We’ll be having his birthday party next Saturday at Chuck-E-Cheese with a Thomas theme. It’ll be fun. Can’t believe my little guy is turning 2!!!