Happy Birthday, John!

The man I love is 34 today! It's a special number to us. Kind of one of those silly dating "things." While we were dating it just seemed like we saw the number 34 everywhere. If a book fell open, it would be to page 34. If we looked at the clock it would be Whatever:34. The inspection number on a new shirt ... you got it. So, it's kind of a silly thing, but it does remind us of those fun dating times when we got all excited when we saw "our number."

Love you, Honey!

Normal

I loved Kristi's post about her normal, and I thought I'd give it a try. I'll opt for the list version. Left-brained, perhaps? Uh, yeah.

Changing diapers
Being in a hurry
Church
Ladies' Bible Class
Rehearsals galore
Finding childcare
Changing diapers
Nursing
Waking up at 4, then 7
Soccer practice
Blogging
Facebooking
Stepping on toys
Picking up toys
Changing diapers (did I say that already?)
Laundry
Running, when convenient
Singing gigs
Driving
Scrapping
Cooking (occasionally)
Laughing at funny kids sayings

I guess that's it in a nutshell. I'd love to see your normal, too!

Oh, here's the funny kid saying of the day:
Johnathan, playing the Wii game, Batman: "Mom! I need to buy this character, Bunny Girl!"
Me, half listening: "Uh-huh."
Johnathan: "Do you see her, Mom? It's Bunny Girl."
Me, still not even realizing he's talking: "Uh-huh."
Johnathan: "Mom! You gotta come see Bunny Girl. I need to buy her!"
Me, realizing that he's talking to me, and finally looking at the screen: "Ha, ha, ha! Oh, Johnathan, that's Catwoman!"
Johnathan: "Yeah, Catwoman!"

Vocabulary Explosion

Kalleigh's vocabulary is going through another growth spurt, which can be really funny, of course. The problem is, as all parents know, when they start saying the phrases that you say all the time ... the ones you don't realize you say all the time! Then there are the words that you have no idea what they mean, so you ask the four-year-old to interpret for you. Here are just a few examples that I can remember from the past two days:

In the van, Kalleigh: "Mommy, ahnna hear own-choo, own-choo nake."
Me: "You want to hear what?"
Kalleigh: "Ahnna hear own-choo, own-choo nake."
Me: "Johnathan, do you know what she's saying?"
Johnathan, in an exasperated voice: "She wants to listen to Don't you, don't you step on a snake."
Which is the first line in the Real Group's Big Bad World. Of course.

At McDonald's. Kalleigh is playing and John and I are talking about something very important that was demanding all of our attention. (I have no idea what it was now!) We hear Kalleigh say, "Hee I am! I kymed!" And she was up in the high chair how? She climbed! Oh, she's my child.

Then this morning I noticed that any time Kalleigh needed to get past someone who was in her way, she would say, "Watch out!" "Where'd she get that?" I wondered, and I told her that she needed to say, "Excuse me, please." A little later, Kalleigh was playing with the magnets on the front of the refrigerator. I needed to put the juice away, and as I reached for the handle, I said, "Watch out!" Good grief. "I mean, excuse me please!"

A new life stage

We've entered into a new life stage in our family. Soccer. Today was Johnathan's first soccer game. Ever. We're in a Christian league organized by one of the big Baptist churches here in town. I had heard so many positive comments about this program versus the Tyler city league, so we decided to give it a try. The teams say a prayer together after the game, and there is a lot of emphasis on being Christ-like out on the field. Then, of course, there's the additional bonus of learning the game of soccer and what it means to be a part of a team!

Johnathan had a blast out there and earned the "best defense" award for this game! That's my boy!

Ready to play!

Pep talk from Daddy.

He started and got to kick off!

Seeing some action.

Best Defense sticker!

One of the little girls on his team scored two goals during the game. At one of his breaks, I said, "McKinsey is doing really good, too, isn't she?" (J)"Yeah! She got to score!" (Me)"You should tell her good job!" He did his little grin-with-an-eyebrow-raise and turned to go tell her 'good job.' Then he stopped, turned around and said, "I'll probably just give her a high-five." Oh yeah; much cooler. :)

Sick baby girl

Kalleigh has her two-year molars coming in. New teeth are always accompanied by a runny nose, a yucky cough due to the drainage from said runny nose, and a low fever. It's sad when she doesn't feel very well, but ........


..... it sure makes for one very sweet little girl! So calm and cuddly!

I out-shuffled my dog.

No, really.

When I run (and I use that word in the loosest way possible) in the mornings, I always take my dog, Bison off-leash. He always stays right with me, with the exception of an occasional pee here and there. Bison, not me. Belle stays at home because she does not stay with me at all and I don't want to take her on a leash. Besides, she has hip dysplasia and can't go that far anyway.

This morning, Bison and I started out on our regular route. Our neighborhood has three parallel streets and two that connect them on each end. A figure eight plus one big loop is 2.1 miles. Well, less that a quarter of a mile into our route, we saw some friends. I guess Bison decided that he didn't feel like running this morning, because he went right over to them and sat down. I figured that he would catch up when he felt like it, but I kept getting further away and Bison wasn't going anywhere!

I finished the figure eight I had started and went back by our friend's house on the last big loop, and there was Bison. Our friends had left, but Bison was just sitting in their driveway. I guess he figured I'd be passing by again and he just thought he'd sit out for that figure eight. He rejoined me and we finished the big loop.

Crazy dog? Smart dog? You make the call!

Poor tired dog!

Pictures from yesterday

Jonas started grinning a couple of weeks ago, and this was my first successful capture! Who's he smiling at? Daddy, of course. :)

Sweet brothers!

Similarities

Keleigh took these while she, Kreg, Tami and Taylor were here. They swung through on their way to Harding to meet Jonas and be there for Johnathan's soccer try-outs back in August. See any similarities?!


Kalleigh and Mommy


Johnathan and Daddy

We did not pose for these pictures.

And a side note: Jonas slept from 11 until 5:30 last night. I hadn't gotten that much sleep in over a month! I felt fully rested! So I went jogging! I went two miles, though I had to walk about a half a mile of it. Whew, I have a long way to go to get back into shape. But, hey, it was the first step, right? I'm going to be so sore tomorrow (and the next day, and the next ...)! While I was pregnant, I had no way of telling the "Wii Fit" that my incredible obesity was due to the pregnancy. It kept asking me if I knew the causes of my weight gain, and pregnancy was not one of the options to choose! Now it is a little concerned that I've lost "so much" weight in such a short time!

Jonas photo shoot -- 5 weeks

Here's a shout out to my good friend Chelsea for taking these pictures this morning! Isn't she amazing? And these were just my favorites!

Enjoy!

15 minutes

I've never had professional lawn guys do our lawn before. Until today. A friend from church set it up for us as a baby gift! I was such a nerd. I was so geeked out about their heavy duty lawn equipment that I took pictures! I don't think they knew, because I just cracked the blinds open just far enough to snap the pictures!

The front yard. That thing is like a mini bush-hog!

The back yard. Here, they guy is moving the swing set. I guess there was some good that came from not bolting that down! And look at that mower! Way cool.

It had been SO long since the back yard had been mowed that the guys had to ask if these were weeds or bushes and what to do with them! No, they're not bushes.

It takes me about three solid hours to mow and edge the front and back yards. The four of them did it in 15 MINUTES. No joke. Like magic!

One month, really? (well yesterday, anyway)

Jonas, has it really been a whole month? (A whole month without a good night's sleep?!) I wouldn't trade it for the world! I love you my sweet baby boy!

Okay, maybe he's not quite ready for the Bumbo ...

Three more ...

1. Kalleigh has started answering my rhetorical questions in her own little way. For example, "Kalleigh, why are you yelling?" "'Cause! Fun!" Touche'.

2. Conversation between John and Johnathan at lunch today:
John: "Oh! Did you see that? I think Mr. Potato Head took a step!"
Johnathan: "No, he didn't. He's not real."
John: "Right. Maybe I was using my imagination."
Johnathan: "Yeah. If you see real potatoes climbing in our house, I'd say, 'Get out!'"

3. Seems like Elizabeth had a post entitled, "Oh, Ashlyn!" a while back. Well, I am so there with Kalleigh. Thursday, I was supposed to drop the kids off at the Deans before I picked up John to go sing with Danny that evening. I got Jonas in the van and as I went back in the house, Johnathan comes running up to me saying, "Mom! Kalleigh has poop all over her!" Sure enough, from the time I left to put Jonas in the car until the time I returned, Kalleigh had pooped in her diaper and managed to smear it all over herself. I was livid, as you could imagine. "Oh, Kalleigh!" I yelled and snatched her up and put her in the tub. I ran back out and retrieved Jonas and put him in his bouncy chair. I marched back into the bathroom, camera in hand, and barked at Kalleigh to face me and back up, and "STOP PUTTING YOUR HANDS IN YOUR MOUTH." Her bottom lip was quivering, as she knew she was in trouble. I sternly said, "Now be still while I take a picture. She looked up, and whimpered, "Cheese?" It was exactly what I needed to calm down. :)


The rest of the story is that I showered her off and redressed her, and we were a mere 12 minutes late. Not bad, I thought!

Writing it down so I don't foget ...

1. Johnathan went to the refrigerator to get some strawberries. We had had them about a week--yeah, you know where this is going. Johnathan said, "Mommy, some of these have mulch on them." I was a little confused until I turned around and saw the lovely mold starting to form on the bottom ones. :)

2. Last night we grilled some steaks. A little tough, but Mamaw's marinade is unbeatable. Kalleigh asked, "Whassat?" and pointed to the meat. "Yummy steak!" I said. She made her best scrunched up worried face and said, " 'Nake? Shew-wee!" It took her a while to accept that we were eating cow meat instead of snake.

Three years of preschool

My big boy on the first days of school!

Two years old,

Three years old,

Four years old!

P. S. This is the longest we've ever lived in the same house!

Last night and this morning

Last night the band performed at KE Cellars. Did I mention that the name of the band is "Group Therapy"? Pretty funny since John has a masters in MFT. Danny's band has always had that name even before we joined him.

Anyway, the Deans kept our kiddos again--even Jonas, making them Jonas's first babysitters. We dropped all three off before heading over to sing, and then they brought Jonas back when it was time to eat! Plus they got to stay and hear us sing a bit, too, which was fun.

Last night was the first time to set up the timbales, cymbal and cowbell. Last Thursday, we only had the congas. Whether or not we did well is totally beside the point. The point was to look impressive, and we succeeded at that! :) No, really, John did an excellent job, especially for his first time with the extra percussion. I filled in on the songs where he had the big solo, like "Mack the Knife," and "Love Me."

One of the deejays in town came and recorded a few of our songs last week and put them up on his website! He took pictures last night and said he would have them up soon to go along with the music. They weren't up when I checked today, but maybe he'll have them up in the next couple of days.

This morning was Jonas's dedication at church. This is when the congregation pledges to help us raise and nurture our child in Christian love. It is so special to us since we don't have our blood family living here. Our church family becomes that in their absence! We certainly do rely on our church family for their help!

Here's Jonas in his cute little outfit for this morning. What makes it so special is that the shirt belonged to my dad when he was a baby! And it's a good thing Jonas wore it today, because I don't think he'll fit in it next week!

The adrenaline has run out

I'm pretty sure I was running on pure adrenaline the first two weeks of Jonas's life. I'm so glad I was able to enjoy those two weeks as much as I did.

But the sleep deprivation has now kicked in. I won't drone on and on about it, because it just comes with the territory, and I know that.

John and I are working together to develop and sharpen our zone defense strategy, 3 on 2, and most days come away feeling somewhat successful. We even made it to church on time all by ourselves this past Sunday! Not only that, but I dropped John off at the building early for worship team rehearsal and all three kids and I went to Starbucks. I was not about to give up that weekly treat! Plus Kreg had given me a Starbucks card for my birthday, and it really needed to be used.

John and I are officially in Danny's band, "Group Therapy." We're learning to play the congas and it's a little intimidating, but a whole lot of fun! We'll be at KE Cellars Saturday night from 6-9 pm for anyone that wants to check us out. As I've said before, I'm thankful that John and I have this outlet that we can enjoy as a couple.

And now I'll leave you with my three favorite pictures from the past week.

My sleeping sweetness!

Johnathan--the angelic look.

... and Kalleigh's sad face. I couldn't resist. :)

Reflections after four days

I just wanted to jot down some thoughts before I forget what's been running through my mind during this precious time ...

I love the newborn phase. It's amazing how quickly it goes by! I'm really trying to enjoy every second. Every squirm, squished up face, squeak and squirt! Watching his face as he studies the new world around him. His legs all tucked up under him when he sleeps or when I hold him, because that's how he had been for the last several months. The wrinkles on his head. The "little old man" hair on the back of his head. The arms that he has no idea what to do with. The "pecking" when he's hungry. The trembling of his chin when he cries. The tiny hands and feet and everything else.

Nursing--what an amazing thing to be able to sustain the life of this infant. There is no other bonding like it! The sweet noises he makes when he eats. The full-body crunch when he latches on. The wide eyes when getting a big gulp of milk for the first time. The way he looks up at me. The feet tickling when he's falling asleep. The midnight gassy grins that only I see. The drunken milk face when he's all full. Even the bags of frozen milk in the freezer. This newborn phase is the only time I'll see that!

That's all for now. I just want to remember.

My boys. :)

Surprise! Jonas Dean is here!

Jonas Dean Hodges
Born: August 5, 2008
Weight: 9 lbs, 10 oz
Length: 21 3/8 in
Head circumference: 14 cm

The story:

Tuesday morning, August 5--our 8th anniversary. We were still in bed just before 8 am. I rolled over and said, "Happy Anniversary!" and wondered where we would go eat that night while the kids were at VBS. John got up first and then I rolled back over and--POP! It felt like Jonas had just kicked really hard, except it was down low, so it couldn't have been his feet. And then I felt my legs getting wet. Oh boy. As I got up and waddled to the bathroom, amniotic fluid continued to run down my legs! "Towels! My water broke! We're having a baby today!" I yelled to John as I climbed in the tub (the one I had just cleaned while nesting last weekend). No contractions yet.

I called my midwife and told her that my water had broken, and yes I was sure. She said that she would head to the birth center and get the jaccuzi started, since I wanted a water birth. She also said that I had ten hours to go into labor on my own. Otherwise, I would need to go to the hospital and be induced due to the risk of infection. I was to call her when the contractions started.

The phone calls started. I was just sure Mom would be able to make this one since I hadn't even started contracting. She left work immediately, ran home and packed for a week and was on the road by 9am.

Danny came by the house around 9:15 bearing gifts of donuts and milk to wish us good luck. I figured it was my last chance to eat whatever I wanted.

Then at 9:30 the contractions started. I could still talk through them, though, but they were progressing. Yea! I was going into labor!

I let my midwife know and she said that I could come on in whenver I felt like it. I told her that we'd take our time getting our stuff together, since the contractions still weren't too bad, and then we'd come on in after dropping the kids off at J.C. and Terry's. We dropped Johnathan and Kalleigh off at 11 am and headed to the birth center.

I had talked to my good friend, Chelsea just the day before (we had taken our kids swimming) about the possibility of her being there at the birth center with me whever I went into labor, at least until Mom got there. Well, here it was, the next day, so she met us there with gifts and camera in tow.

I was at 5 cm when my midwife, Vicky, checked me around 11:15. We agreed that it woulc be best to wait to get in the water until I was a little further along so the contractions wouldn't slow down. At that point, my contractions were coming every five minutes and growing steadily stronger, but still not totally unbearable ... until about 12:40. Then there was a significant change in the intensity and duration of each contraction. I wanted to be checked again because I wanted to get in that water ASAP! Sure enough I was at "at 8, maybe a 9," and I headed to the pool.

The water was perfect and it felt wonderful. I was in the pool about five minutes before I said, "I need to push!" Vicky said, "Great! Let's do it!" And I started pushing. Whew, that was hard work! But the end was so close! And I just kept on pushing! His head was hard for me to get out, partly because his right fist was up by his cheek, but finally, oh finally, he came on out of there. I pulled him up to me and was overwhelmed with emotions of love, pride, relief and sheer bliss! John cut cord and we just relaxed for awhile before I got out of that wonderful water.

I didn't need any stitches, I didn't have any IV, I got to go home 3 1/2 hours later. I LOVED this whole experience!! If we have another, and that's the plan at this point, I will definitely do it that way again, assuming everything goes well, of course.

Chelsea got some great pictures, so enjoy the slide show! (Some pics are sideways. Just didn't have time to edit them ALL!)

Progress and otherwise

I went in today for an appointment, and I'm at a 3! I knew those Braxton Hicks were doing something! He's still pretty high, or at least he swam back up for the appointment. All that to say, I have no idea when he'll decide to enter the world. My official due date is still the 22nd, but at the sonogram back in April, he was measuring 10 days ahead of schedule, which would be next Tuesday, the 12th. That would be a fine day for me. :)

On the other hand, I broke my pinky toe today! I ran into the wall rounding a corner. I heard the crack. And now it's black. Of course, you can't tell that it's swollen any worse than the rest of my toes, but it is not pretty. Isn't that just what I need when I weigh the most I've ever weighed in my life?!

A bit of nesting

I'm totally in "accomplish mode" these days. This timing seems to be about right, if I remember correctly. While pregnant with Johnathan my poor husband and I painted three rooms in one weekend, including his "all-out" Peter Rabbit nursery. With Kalleigh it was baking. From about 37 weeks until the day I went into labor I couldn't stop baking pies.

This weekend I made 2 framed quotes for Ladies Bible Class (which begins the Tuesday after my due date), boxed, labeled and had John put away Johnathan's and Kalleigh's clothes that they had outgrown, wrote thank you cards for the first round of my "bassinet shower" from church, created a design that has the names of God on it that will go on a 4 x 4 tile to give to all the Ladies Bible Class leaders in a couple of weeks, organized my scrap stuff and got it all put away, hung an iron decoration in our bathroom, cleaned out the wax that was in our garden tub from when a candle exploded nearby, cleaned the rest of the bathroom (no easy feat), put Jonas's car seat in the van and moved the other car seats around as needed, purged the kids' toys and got the ones that "made the cut" reorganized, gave myself a French manicure, and then just did some general picking up around the house. I intend to sleep well tonight. We'll see how that goes!

These are the framed quotes I made. I was pleased with how they turned out! The smaller quote says, "I've been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no other place to go. -- Abraham Lincoln. These quotes will sit at our service project table and our prayer reqest table.

I had made a fresh cherry cobbler earlier this week, but I learned the hard way that it needed to be refrigerated. *sniff* What's wrong with my brain? I should've known that.

Next week is VBS, so that should be fun. No, I'm not in charge of anything! And Tuesday is our 8 year anniversary. Crazy!

Needless to say, it's a good day, and I'm feeling well. I'm grateful for days like this!