My Little Models

"Who are those child-fashion models?" you ask? Those are my babies, Noelle and Bella!

 Tiffany, from Meek+Chic used them in a photo shoot for her Tutu Sweet Backpack Tutorial and they really got into it! You can see more beautiful photos of my girls and read the backpack tutorial here.!

Nothing Just Happens

This is such a great sermon. Especially, for someone who may be is trying to make sense of something that has happened in their life. I should know -- I do this often.

Wordless Wednesday

Source: Uploaded by user via Emi on Pinterest

Halle's Birth Story ~ Part 2

About a week before going into labor with the baby, I began to take all my fears about having another posterior birth to the Lord in prayer. I felt as if the Lord gave me a scripture to hold on to. It said;

"Be strong and of good courage, fear not nor be afraid of them. For the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee. He will not fail thee." -Deuteronomy 31:6

I was so encouraged when I read this verse that I wrote it out and began to speak it everyday! I also wrote out other scriptures and spoke them out loud. I kept saying, "This will be my easiest and fastest birth."

The day before I went into labor was a Sunday, so I went to church. Our pastor got up to take his text and began to read out loud;

"Be strong and of good courage, fear not nor be afraid of them. For the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee. He will not fail thee." -Deuteronomy 31:6

I couldn't believe it! This brought me so much peace because I took it as a confirmation from the Lord that my birth would go smoothly. By the next afternoon, I was in labor. And by about 2am the next morning, I was on my way to the hospital. 

My contractions were coming about 5 minutes apart by the time I got close to the hospital and I was focusing very hard to keep my mind on the promises of God that I wrote out. I was doing the hand and knees position in the backseat of the car, trying to ensure that Halle was turn the right way by the time I had to push. My contractions felt strong, but manageable!

I entered the hospital at about 3:30pm and hubby was helping me through each contraction. After about an hour, the nurse was still registering me into the hospital. The midwife checked me and said that I was about 6cm dilated and we probably had time. She told me that she was going to change her clothes and would be right back. 

At that point my contractions were really strong, however I was still talking in between them. I was still actually laughing and talking to hubby in between them. But, secretly I really felt as though I had to push. I thought to myself, "I'm only 6cm. Maybe I'll push just a little bit." When I did that, my water totally broke and the baby came all the way down!

The midwife came running back in the room and could see the baby crowning! Hubby kept saying, "Are you pushing?!" I felt like a kid who was in big trouble! I replied reluctantly, "A little." Needless to say, about 4 pushes later, Halle was born. It was 4:13am and the nurse laughed and said, "I never  even finished registering you!"

God answered my prayers and was my birth with Halle was truly my easiest and fastest birth!

Halle's Birth Story ~ Part 1

Prior to having children, having an unmedicated birth experience was never even on my radar. Never. Still, as many of you moms know: motherhood brings about many changes. I  initially thought that women who actually wanted to have unmedicated, natural births were just plain crazy. For the life of me, I couldn't understand why these poor women just didn't take advantage of the breakthroughs in modern medicine (that the good Lord had provided) in order to escape the "torture" that we call childbirth. Little did I know, after having a "epidural-fiasco" with my first baby and a "pitocin-fiasco" with my second baby, I would become one of these "crazy" women.

In addition to my dissatisfaction with my first two birthing experiences, I was inspired by my friend who gave birth to her first-born naturally. Remember that? If not, you can read about it here. I was also inspired and awakened to the downside of birth interventions after watching The Business of Being Born. You can see the trailer here. 

So, while pregnant with my 3rd child, I got a midwife and a doula and prepared for my first unmedicated birthing experience. Boy, did I have high hopes! I pictured myself after having the baby feeling a sense of accomplishment and strength. I had thoughts of a deep sense of affection I would feel for my baby right after birth. 

To my dismay, I ended up in a ridiculously long labor, felt a horrendous amount of pain in my lower back, and gave birth to a posterior baby. I walked away from the experience convinced that "torture" was indeed the appropriate term for an unmediated birth. If you think you can handle the gory details of that one, you can read about it here.

So, why on earth would I try to go for another unmedicated birth with baby #4? (I did mention I was crazy, right?) I figured that if I prayed alot and took the proper precautions needed in order to make sure my baby "spinned" I could avoid another posterior birth. Then, I could finally have my ideal birth experience.

My faith that God would help my dream birth become a reality was increased after I read this birth story. I thought that if God would have that much mercy and love toward this woman, why wouldn't he do the same for me. I also found a website called Spinning Babies, in which I found a ton of information on positions and exercises I could do to turn my baby. I did them and I did them often in the weeks leading up to the birth of the baby!

To be continued...

Happy 1st Birthday Halle!

My baby girl turns 1 year-old today! 

Here are some fun facts about Halle:

1. The name Halle means "unexpected gift" and that she was!

2. Halle already has 4 and 1/2 baby teeth!

3. If one of our children could win an award for "The Messiest Eater" she would most definitely win. She doesn't just like to eat the food, she likes to feel the food (a tactile learner perhaps?). In fact, here's what I found her doing with her oatmeal this morning:

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

Wordless Wednesday ~ Girls Room Inspiration

This photo added to ideas for what I might want to do in my girls room. I love the photo and the shag rug!

Source: littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com via LaSandra on Pinterest

Kitchen Playdates

When I spotted this book at the library, I immediately thought of a friend who has a knack for making a simple recipe come alive! I thought that some of you might also find it useful! Lauren Bank Deen, author of the book, Kitchen Playdates, explains how she did a little reinventing after having children;

"The arrival of my children changed an aspect of my life that I was pretty happy with: the opportunity for social spontaneity, including the occasional nightcap or a long Sunday brunch at a restaurant. Of course my husband, Anthony, and I are absolutely crazy about our kids, Mathias and Natasha, and can't imagine life without them. But we have both had a little pang for certain aspects of the way things were.  

 Family life is chaotic-there's just no way around it. So, I decided, why not embrace it? I'm a problem solver by trade and temperament; how hard could it be to do the family thing and see friends, too? Through a little trial and error I found that I didn't have to give up my former life, just reinvent it a little."

Deen decided to write a book that would provide parents with the tools and inspiration they needed to have Kitchen Playdates. She defines Kitchen Playdates as, "a playdate that includes the grown-ups, complete with great food and if you're up for it, a cooking project with the kids." Doesn't that sound fun!?

You can find out more about Kitchen Playdates here.