A funny thing happened at the doctor yesterday

I went in for my normal non-stress test. They hooked me up to the machines as usual and left so I could lay there for 30-40 min being monitored. Wouldn't you know it, I went into labor! Just like that! Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Regular contractions, 3-5 min apart, mild intensity.....so off I was to the labor and delivery wing at the hospital. That was around 2pm. I was dilated to a 3, 90% effaced, with a bulging water bag.

I had to get two doses of antibiotics for Strep B which meant I couldn't deliver until 6:30pm at the earliest. So they tried to leave me alone and not get me any closer to delivery. I wasn't in too much pain, but when they checked me around 5:30pm I was dilated to a 6. They suggested that if I wanted to get an epidural (duh--yeah!) it was now or never. They knew it would go fast based on the position of the baby and my history in fast deliveries. I got it around 6pm. Thanks, Dr. Feel-good.

They broke my water at 6:45pm. I pushed for 3 sets and delivered a baby at 7:10 pm. Did this even count as a birth? From my appt beginning around 1 pm to having a baby 6 hrs later with hardly any pain? Thank you, Lord!

But what was most amazing about all this is that although I was 90% sure it was a boy (even strangers told me I was carrying a boy), we had a darling baby girl! I was beyond estatic!

Since we thought it was a boy, we hadn't reduced our girl name list as we had our boy list. So we spent quite a bit of time deciding on a name from the multitude of lists I have kept for all three pregnancies.

I had a top 3, Bryce had a top 4, and one name was on both lists....Brielle. So that's what we named her. Brielle Esther Cox. Brielle is a Hebrew name meaning "God is my might." We thought Esther from the Bible was a good tag-on to that. And it fit her!

Here are some pics.....we think she looks like what Treyton looked like as a baby.

Busy Bees

Yesterday we experienced our 1st snowfall of the year. When the weather turns bad, I like to do crafts. So we made bees. First start with two strips of yellow paper and have the kiddos draw a bee face on them.

Then have them make stripes.

Or whatever designs they choose.

Then cut out the following shape which will become the wings.

Fold.

Either staple or glue the strip of paper in a circle.

Then staple/glue the wings. (I found that the staple will hold the wings better than glue.)

Put a dab of glue on the back where the stinger will go.

Glue the long side of the stinger onto the bee.

Fold the stinger down so it sticks out.

Ahhh....buzz, buzz, buzz.

Then we stapled on some string to the top of the bee. For the next hour, the kids chased each other buzzing through the house.

And I ate white cheddar popcorn watching them. :)

Almost there

This is me. This is my belly at 37 weeks.

I can't wait to meet him/her!

1st Day

Every mom has a picture of her kid like this.

On his way to his first day of preschool, year 2. The backpack is still huge, thank goodness. Glad he hasn't grown into it yet. :) He's a pro! Finding his name, hanging up his backpack, and getting some supplies out for his teacher. He's ready. That's his "I'm not sure, I'm a little nervous, but I'm going to try" face. Here's his teacher, Mrs. Kerby. She's seems to be the perfect preschool teacher....kind, gentle, she even has the preschool teacher "look", doesn't she?

Have a great year Treyton!

Comfort

She's all about comfort.

Galina is a cuddler. She LOVES, loves, loves being cozy and cuddling up. A very affectionate girl. Her love language is physical touch without a doubt. Maybe that's because I held her so much when she was a newborn. I couldn't get enough of that newborn-ness!

She wakes up and often says/orders, "Wrap me up, Mommy," before we head downstairs.

She can find the most comfy nook and crannies to cuddle in. Kinda reminds me of a cat. Has her own agenda, rarely comes when called, and seems to think she's the boss.....hmmmm, maybe I hung around Polly too much when I was pregnant with her!

Here's what melts my heart....cuddling with her brother. So sweet! "Mom, get off the computer! I'm ready for my pedicure now!!!!"

Fall Activities

Treyton dropped dance (sniffle, sniffle) because he wanted to try soccer this fall. So right now I'm a soccer mom. And loving it!

He's had two practices and these are the pictures from his first game. Notice the curly haired kid in the white jersery (below) kicking the ball? Well, call him Pele. He was the star. All the kids, including his own teammates just chased him around. He scored around 621 goals, I think. When they took Curly out we scored.

Treyton said he had fun but didn't seem to like being in the middle of the action. He, being on the younger and smaller side, was a little intimidated, I think. Neither Bryce nor I were into contact sports and I could see him being of that same design. We'll see. However, he really likes to run. Maybe when we get a little more experience under his belt he'll be more comfortable, who knows. This was the best attempt for the two teams to slap hands at the end. You know, good sportsmanship and all. They didn't get the lining up thing very well, but Treyton was sure to high five Curly's hand and tell him good game. I was proud of him! Do they make soccer mom bumper stickers that say something about slapping the hand of the star opponent? There must be something out there....

And Galina started up her dance class in the "good" studio. She has also taken some classes in an inferior place, but this past week her regular class resumed.

Miss Linda has lots of tricks up her sleeve. Like dancing with a feather.

Here she's surprising the kids with a blast of air and feathers from the tumbling mats. No peeking!

Galina loves Miss Linda. On her left is her friend, Libby. Love the tutu, Lib!

Finishing their turns, I caught them hanging out together.

Nigh-night time to settle down before leaving class.

And a stamp to show off to everyone we meet.

I love being a dancer's mom too! Heck, I just love being a mom!!!!

He IS Excited

My husband, Bryce is a pretty even-keeled, reserved person. In other words, the absolute opposite of me. So sometimes it's hard to tell what he really feels about things. But this weekend, I gathered the clues and concluded that he is excited for our new baby.

The first clue was when he went to Sam's club to get a special device similar to a "nanny cam". Sure, he dismissed it as something we could use to get the camper in the garage, to have extra security when and where we need it, yada, yada, yada. But really, he likes to spy on his babies and make sure all is well, protecting them if you will. He set it up in Galina's room and watched it like a movie. He mentioned more than once getting an attachment for each of the kids' rooms so we could spy on all of them. His contained enthusiasm was cute. Really cute.

The next thing he did this weekend was go on-line and order a bucket seat for his truck. Right now the max amount of people who can fit is 5...barely. With a bucket seat, we could fit 6. Did you hear that? Six! I asked him jokingly, "Why? So we can fit all 4 kids and us?" (I have always wanted more kids than him.) He answered "Yes." Simply stated but world changing for me. Four kids (if God blesses us that way) may be in the future. My heart did a flutter as any woman's would who wants to raise a school of children. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the LORD!

For anyone out there in cyberworld who is married to a reserved engineer, you know how to look for clues. The Sherlock Holmes in me may be wrong, but all the clues point to one solution: Bryce is really, really excited to be a daddy again. And he's a good one at that! Him being excited makes me even more excited. I didn't think that was possible! Yea! Yipee!