Cute things my kids have said: Part 12

It has been over a year since I last posted one of these!!  A YEAR!  Wow...so here is edition 12 of cute things my kids have said.


1/9/15  Trying to explain that the color of a country on a map does not reflect the color of the actual place. I showed the kids a map of the US. "Is Wyoming really purple? Is Nebraska really yellow?" Jasmine: (with a mischievous twinkle in her eye) "Nebraska is really red." #huskercountry  :)
wink emotico#‎huskercountry‬

1/14/15  Eden: (after her orthodontist appt) "My teeth feel like soldiers." (Because they are so stiff.)

1/17/15  Eden: "Mommy, do you know what inflexibility is? It is invisible flexibility!"

1/17/15  Jasmine: "Mom, why are you pulling the hairs out of your face? They're just going to grow back while you sleep."

1/21/15  Jasmine: "I get naked when I go number two."

1/23/15   Me: "You guys didn't get any of your homework done." Jasmine: "At least we were playing and using our imaginations instead of being on technology!"

1/26/15  We could hear the bass in the car next to us...discussing what it sounds like, Acacia says, "Or maybe God stomping his foot on the earth."

2/16/15  Eden was pouting because I told her to go work on her homework...I was talking to Acacia who had asked me a question. I answered, "partially." Acacia: "what does 'partially' mean?" Eden(in her pouty voice): "It's a vegetable." And then she started laughing at her own joke.

3/11/15  Kira: "I see the moon, Mommy!" Me: "What? Why is it there during the daytime?" Kira: "it's stuck!" Me: "What should we do about it?" Kira: "Climb a tree?"

3/11/15  Jasmine: "I don't know what it's like to have a brother but I'm pretty sure it's not fun. It's not that I don't like boys..."

3/27/15  Earlier tonight Eden mentioned that she had a sore throat. Jasmine says to her, "Don't you wish you were a bee? Then instead of talking you could just dance!"

4/26/15  Me: "Kira, how did you sleep last night?"
Kira: "I'm wearing Jasmine's shoes."
Me: "That doesn't answer my question."
Kira: "Yes. It does."

5/4/15  Kira was sitting with me at Acacia's violin Sprouts lesson watching intently. I turned and asked her, "Do you want to learn to play the violin?" Kira answered, "No. I'm gonna play my harmonica."

5/13/15  Overheard this morning after Jasmine reminded Eden of something they had planned to do together... Eden: "That was the nighttime me. This is the daytime me and I'm too tired!"

5/17/15  I asked Kira where her shoes were. She answered, "I took them off. My feet are full."

5/19/15  Used my vehicle's rear wipers today...Jasmine: "Oh! So that's how people's back windows make rainbows of dirt!"

5/24/15  After our recent party I have punch & 7-up in the fridge. Kira: "Mommy, can I have some 8-up?" (She was talking about the punch!)

5/27/15  Kira: "Mommy, my shirt has sneeze on it."

7/3/15  Yet another thing I never imagined myself saying, "Kira! Do NOT eat your shoe!"

7/3/15 Kira (about the fireworks): "That scared my ears."

7/26/15  Eden: "I want to go to Target and sniff the clothes!"

8/12/15   Today the girls & I were talking about how hard it was to teach Eden to read and how Acacia basically taught herself. Eden said: "Teaching me to read was like teaching a squirrel how to dance!" Acacia: "And teaching me was like shaking a tree branch."

8/22/15 Kira: "Daddy, I'm ready for my piggy bank ride."

9/16/15 Kira (after I told her not to do something): "I know it's bad but I like it."

9/24/15 Eden while trying to tell us where sushi is made: "I forgot what the other China was called."

9/30/15 Eden: "Utah is like a giant chocolate bar with one of the squares eaten off it."

10/13/15  I asked Kira if she felt any different now that she is three. She said, "Yeah, my teeth feel bigger."

11/6/15  I asked Kira why her baby was naked. Her answer: "Because she has no clothes on."

11/19/15   Jasmine: "Sometimes I use the cc cards when I'm multiplicating."

11/27/15  Kira: "I'm scared of animals. I'm scared of dinosaurs and puppies. But I'm not scared of cats."

12/2/15   Kira scraped her finger earlier today and I put a band-aid on it. Just now she came to me because she wanted a new band-aid. I asked her why she took the other one off. She told me, "That band-aid was having a bad day."

12/25/15. Kira to Russ who was wearing sunglasses on his head in the house. " I told you to quit it with those glasses!"

12/31/15  Kira: talking about having boobies "But they hurt." Me: "No they don't". "But you're going to have a baby and that hurts. I'm guessing."

12/31/15  I threw something at the trash and missed and gave an exasperated sigh. Kira: "it's okay. You can pick up when you get out of the bath." Me: "But I'm pregnant and can't bend easily so you're going to have to do it." Short pause. Kira: searching her body with her hand. "But my back hurts."

1/6/16  Kira found a bottle in bathroom and asked me what it was. "Lotion". "Will it die me?" "Only if you eat it." "So I can put it on my hands but if I put it in my mouth it will die me?"

1/14/16  Kira was looking in the mirror and I heard her say , "You don't respect me!" Then she came around the corner and said to me, "The Kira in the mirror doesn't respect me."

2/1/16  Kira peed on the kitchen table.

2/12/16  Just overheard my kids singing 'Happy Birthday' to Abraham Lincoln.

Cute things my kids have said: Part 11

A few more adorable memories from the past year!  Check out past "Cute" posts HERE.

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April 19, 2014:  At the grocery store, Jasmine was trying to embarrass Eden by chanting that E loves Justin Beiber. Eden attempted to one up her by saying "YOU love Justin Beiber because God says love you enemies!" Jasmine comes back with..."YOU love Justin Beiber because God says love your enemies. HA!" 

May 14, 2014:  I think I have been successful in passing down my love for books...Jasmine says to me "I like the library but I don't like that I have to take the books back." 


May 19, 2014:  After asking Acacia multiple times to pick up the clothes in her room, she comes out with her saddest face and and says, "Mommy, I just want to have a good time. And you're ruining it."

June 6, 2014:  Eden's takeaway from Disney: "Never trust an old woman who wants to give you an apple. Unless she's your grandmother." Jasmine: "But what if your grandmother is evil?"

June 11, 2014:  Eden (while reading a book about alligators): "Ohmygoodness! Alligators live up to 50 years! Uncle Tim is 10 years younger than them." 

June 19, 2014:  Driving between Bridgeport and Sidney, Nebraska, Jasmine looks out the window and says, "This is what it looks like when you're lost." 

June 21, 2014:  Jasmine: "What if someone had NO underwear and had to wear pizza instead?!"

June 23, 2014:  At lunch, after anyone took a bite, Acacia would throw her hand in the air and yell, "Fifteen points for Gryffindor!"

June 28, 2014:  Eden: "I hope Vaughn walks in with a disco ball or I'm going to freak out!"

July 3, 2014:  My kids are outside playing in their heavy coats. When I asked what they are doing, "We are pretending that it's winter."

July 8, 2014:  Eden wanted me to put in a cd that they could dance ballet to. I had her grab a cd from our classical section and she gave me a Mozart disc. It started playing and she reacted with "no not this". When I asked her why she said, "This is too 'is he dead or is he not?'."

July 18, 2014:  Eden: "Let's just pretend that Acacia is a drop of sunshine that grew into a girl."

July 18, 2014:  At a backyard BBQ--Me: "Jasmine, sit down and eat the rest of your hot dog and then you can have a S'more." Jasmine: "Some more what?" 

July 20, 2014:  Sitting at the dinner table discussing how a princess would and would not eat her dessert. Jasmine: "Being a princess is hard." Eden (in a condescending tone): "Tell me about it."

August 18, 2014: Jasmine came to me with this cucumber on her wrist and said, "If you go to fashionfood.com you can buy this beautiful jewelry."

August 19, 2014: The kids were just singing a version of 'Do you want to build a snowman' where they substituted almost every noun with the word 'Sherlock'.  And now they are just walking around saying random things like, "I thought Sherlock was for Sherlocking."

August 19, 2014:  Jasmine (while making a fruit smoothie-which was her idea): "Mommy, good ideas always pop into my head!"

August 25, 2014: The girls were playing with Barbies and Jasmine says asking for a new outfit for her doll (in her falsetto voice): "I need a sexy...oops...i mean, I need a fashionable one."

September 13, 2014:  Watching the "Whip it" video: Eden says, "Eww they are nuditing her!"

September 15, 2014:  Jasmine & Acacia asked Jesus to be their Savior.

September 18, 2014:  Jasmine wanted to know how we got the whipped cream out of the can. Eden replies without even so much as a sideways glance while eating her pie, "Chef's secret."

September 22, 2014:  Jasmine: "Mommy, why would people want to come to Nebraska? It's cold right now and it smells like cow poop."

September 29, 2014:  Eden: "I'm starting putrid!" Me:huh? Eden: "I was reading that book about how babies are born and it said girls start putrid at 8 or 9 and boys start at 10 or 11." Me: "Oh, you mean puberty!"

October 2, 2014:  I got a late night giggle when I got up to use the restroom and heard one of my girls talking in her sleep (I think it was Jasmine.). She said quickly, "Duck, duck, duck, duck, duck , duck, duck."

October 9, 2014:  Russ & I were just passionately kissing in the kitchen at lunch as people in love are want to do; Eden turns away in disgust and says, "You are not in a movie!"

October 23, 2014:  Found this while cleaning! Apparently Jasmine was practicing her ballet!

November 14, 2014:  The other night Eden was singing "All about that bass" to herself and I said "Do you even know what that song is about?" She replied, "It's about liking your body no matter what."

December 17, 2014:  Kira: (Pretending to take my picture) "Say cheese & mayonnaise!"

December 18, 2014:  I asked Kira if I could have a hug. Kira- "No" Me- "please?" She looks at me with a scowl on her face and says matter of factly (as if she's explaining something to a stupid person) "No means no."

December 21, 2014:  I asked Kira where the wipes were. She put her finger to her lips and said, "hmm, let me think."

Cute things my kids have said--Part 10

Time for an update!  I like to have these moments in my kids' lives documented so I can always look back.  This installment is kind of heavy on the "Jasmine" quotes.  :) She's definitely at that age...but she's also just a cool kid! 

(Eden is 8, Jasmine is 6, Acacia is 4, and Kira is 1) --------------------

August 20, 2013--Jasmine (while discussing the color red): "Well, it looks good on apples!"

September 11, 2013--Found Jasmine outside with a feather...pretending to be Thomas Jefferson. 

September 28, 2013--Jasmine started reading the Gideon bible in our hotel. She comes up to me and says seriously, "I kind of like the Bible so far."

October 21, 2013--Last weekend we were painting our room and we let the girls "help". Jasmine says, "This base board is going to be really warm for the winter. 'Cause I'm giving him his fourth coat."

October 22, 2013--We were parked outside of a Subway that has Goodrich ice cream and it really bothered Jasmine. "Ice cream is not fresh! I thought Subway was suppose to be healthy; ice cream is not healthy!"

October 22, 2013--Jasmine: "I think mayonnaise tastes a little bit like earwax."

October 27, 2013--Kira finally got her first tooth! Lower left.

October 27, 2013--Russ: "Are you kidding me?"
                            Jasmine: "I'm a kid, but I'm not 'ing'."
                            Russ: "Good one."

November 5, 2013--Acacia: "Mama, I'm being hayve."

November 6, 2013--Jasmine (making out a "new" Christmas list): "Did you know that I'm actually a big fan of American Girl dolls?"

November 12, 2013--Jasmine's "Mona Lisa"

November 13, 2013--Eden was asking for food and Russ told her she could have a banana. Acacia didn't hear and asked, "she can have what?" Russ said, "Nunya." Acacia's says, "I want Nunya!"

November 15, 2013--Jasmine: "On Fridays we should fry stuff. And eat french fries cause it's FRY day! Get it?"

November 18, 2013--Jasmine: "The third thing I want to be when I grow up if I can't be a doctor or a chiropractor is a ninja."

November 27, 2013--Jasmine: "Could God cover the sun with His pinky toe?....Does God even have a pinky toe?"

December 2, 2013--Jasmine broke her leg.

December 5, 2013--Kira is officially walking!

December 13, 2013--Acacia telling me about her dream: "I was in the earth and Jesus was still there. I went somewhere and when I came back he was gone. He ate himself." 

January 25, 2014--We were discussing belly button shapes. Jill: "Does my belly button look like an orange?" Eden: "It kind of looks like the top of a circus tent!"

January 25, 2014--Eden: "Look, Mom, an optimal illusion!"

January 26, 2014--Russ asked Acacia to throw something away in our bedroom but she couldn't find our trash. Russ told her, "it's behind the chair". Acacia: "Your trash can is sneaky!"

January 28, 2014--Jasmine was saying that if she built a house she would want to live in it. Then Acacia speaks up, "If I built a tree, I'd want to go 'Hoo, Hoo' like an owl."

January 28, 2014--Acacia stuck her toes in a bowl of pistachio shells and said, "Oh yeah, that hits the spot!"

January 30, 2014--Served artichokes for the first time.   Acacia's reaction: "Tastes kinda like chicken." 

February 8, 2014--Eden to Kira: "Noooo...come back! You're gonna get sucked into the portal of the human world!"

March 8, 2014--Acacia: "I'm asparagus so somebody eat me!"

March 27, 2014--Random observation from my Eden: "Mommy, I think brown boys are better at beatboxing than white boys."


Miss the first 9?  Click HERE to read a ridiculous amount of cute things!

Cute thing my kids have said--Part 9

It has been SUCH a long time since I posted one of these!  So here are the moments I want to remember from the last two years.  :)

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10/22/11-- I had a tear roll down my cheek and Acacia asked, "You cry, Mama?"  And I said, "Yeah."  She said, "Like Jesus?"  I was like, "what?"  And she said, "Like Jesus cries?"  I started laughing because I think this must be what she hears when we say, "Jesus Christ."

11/03/11-- Eden: (after discussing why hornets sting people.) "I just want to be every bug's friend."

11/16/11-- Eden said, "I think I know what God looks like. A huge cloud ghost but with a human head."

12/03/11-- I asked Eden what was the one thing she wanted for Christmas. Her reply..."Swimming lessons."

12/28/11-- I was teasing the girls and Jasmine gets serious and says, "Mom! Moms don't tease. Only grandpas tease."

01/01/12-- Jasmine: "What if I ate GIANT food? Then I'd get GIANT dessert, wouldn't I?"

01/02/12-- I asked Acacia some questions: Favorite color: 'crayon' Favorite animal: 'pillow pet' Favorite food: 'pacifier'

01/02/12-- Jasmine: "That guy on tv is bald. Bald people are funny!"

01/03/12-- Jasmine asked, "What if God wasn't real?" As I sat there trying to decide how to answer, Eden answered for me, "Then we wouldn't exist."

01/15/12--Today we were talking about Tim Tebow and Jasmine spoke up and said, "When I grow up, I'm going to marry Tim Tebow." A few minutes later she said, "When I grow up, I am going to say to him, "You are handsome."

01/16/12-- Jasmine: "Some grown-ups are boys and they are handsome. Girls want to marry handsome boys. But when some girls don't like boys, they go away from them." 

01/23/12--Eden: "I don't like big 'M's. I like little 'm's. 'Cause big 'M's look mean and scary!"

03/17/12--Eden lost her other front tooth.  She & Acacia were playing and Acacia accidentally head-butted Eden in the face and out came her tooth. Lots of pain & blood. 

04/12/12--Me: "I need to take a shower."  Jasmine: "Can I shower with you?"  Me: (kidding around) "Are you sure? You'll have to see me naked."  Jasmine: (serious) "I won't laugh at you."

05/12/12--Russ blew his nose while holding Acacia and after he finished she turned to him and said, "You got bless you'd on me!"

05/28/12--Russ & I freaked out when we couldn't find Jasmine & Acacia. Eden said they were playing in the sandbox but the sandbox had it's lid on and they were nowhere to be seen. We ran outside and were yelling for them. No answer. Eden came out, opened the sandbox and there they both were...napping.

07/07/12--Jasmine: "I wish I were in heaven playing worship. I wonder how they are playing worship? I want to play worship with God and Grandpa Jim."

07/12/12--Jasmine: "We're all sinners. And God's normal!"

09/07/12--Acacia came and asked me if she could play on the Ipod. I told her, "no, go put it back." A little while later she comes out of my room and I ask her what she was doing and she tells me she was playing on the ipod. I said, " I thought I told you not to play on that." She replies, "Yeah but I thought 'what the heck!'"

09/28/12--Earlier this week, I woke in the middle of the night to Jasmine screaming. I went in her room to find her sitting up staring horrifically at her right leg. I thought maybe she had a leg cramp or a something. Turns out she was freaking out because she "kept thinking her leg was a worm!" We brought her in our bed with us and she had to look at the ceiling to keep herself from looking at her leg and freaking out! She insists she wasn't dreaming. I was a little freaked out because it was as if my 5 year old was having hallucinations...

10/05/12--Acacia finished her lunch and got a cookie. She asked if she could have another one and I said "No. You only get one for now." She puts on her pouty face and says, "Awww, but two is BETTER!" and stomps her foot.

11/05/12--Jasmine: "My tummy's growling like a tiger!"

11/07/12--Jasmine: "I wish Justin Beiber could see our pretty outfits."

11/14/12--Eden explaining to Acacia what teenagers are like: "They like to go to the mall and get their nails painted and stuff."

12/06/12--Getting ready to go Walmart in my sweatpants and Eden told me I had to put on jeans. I said, "no I don't." And she said, "If you were MY kid, I'd make you put on nice pants." 

12/15/13--Jasmine: "I'm glad Santa is not real." Russ: "Why?" Jasmine: "I don't want to be on the naughty list." Russ: "What makes you think you'd be on the naughty list?" Jasmine: "Being naughty."

12/27/12--Jasmine is walking around with Russ' handheld multimeter pretending she is a Schwans man. I ordered peppermint ice cream. I was also informed that peach ice cream was 'unavailable.'

12/28/12--Overheard: Jasmine: "Your face is ugly!" Eden: "Your mama's face is ugly!" *giggles*

01/10/13--Jasmine: "I'm having a good day. Do you know why? Because last night at Awana, Lilly prayed for everyone to have a good day tomorrow."

01/12/13--1st "object stuck-in-nose" incident.  Acacia put a piece of a small foam letter in her nose with help from Jasmine.

01/17/13--Jasmine lost her first tooth.  Pulled it out herself.

01/20/13--A little tie mannequin became Jasmine's friend while we were shopping at Herbergers. She danced with him, kissed him, and cried when we told her she couldn't take him home. She told us on the way home that she liked the way he was dressed. 

02/03/13--The girls got echo microphones at Target for a dollar and on the way home Jasmine was pretending she was leading a church service. She asked for a volunteer to come up and pray and then she started preaching about how we're suppose to like God when we are having a good day and even when we are sick or when our head itches.

02/25/13--My kids are strange. Jasmine & Acacia are dancing around the house singing "Martin Van Buren, Martin Van Buren."

03/09/13--Eden: "God's burps would be so loud it could turn the earth upside down!"

03/21/13--Kira was cryin' and said, "mama". I know it was probably just baby babble but it made my heart happy and she stopped crying when Russ gave her to me, so I'm gonna count it as her first word.  :)

03/22/13--Jasmine said that she dreamt that God was on the earth and you could just see His feet. And Plankton (from Spongebob) tried to climb up His leg to get to God but he couldn't and then God burped and it was so loud that it burst everyone's ears up to God!

03/26/13--"Goweg"= the way Jasmine spells "going".

03/30/13--Kira is sitting up!

04/21/13--Jasmine (my little queen of random) made my day today when I was dropping her of at Awana and she looked up at me and said, "Mommy, you look really pretty." 

06/15/13--My Dad, the girls and I were sitting outside looking at the stars when Jasmine speaks up and says, "I can't color as good as God can."

07/16/13--Jasmine: "I like the name Jubilee (her middle name) so much because it makes me think of a marshmallow."

07/20/13--Jasmine: (after several people commented on what a pretty princess she is). "But I'm not a princess. I'm just a human wearing a crown."

07/26/13--Jasmine: "Everyone poops. Even the Fed-Ex guy."

07/29/13--Acacia & I were talking about how we were gonna love each other forever and ever and ever and she says, "AND I will love you on Tuesday!"

08/10/13--Jasmine: "Teenage mutant ninja turtles don't exist." Russ: "How do you know?" Jasmine: "Turtles don't fight. They go slow."

08/12/13--Acacia: "Guess what! I have cucumbers in my shoes."

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For Past "Cute Things" post, click HERE!

Kira's Birth Story

Kira has arrived!!  She was born on Oct. 13th at 11:59 pm.  She weighed 7 lb, 1 oz and was 20" long.  And absolutely beautiful!

At 39 weeks along according to my Oct. 17th due date, I was beginning to really anticipate birth.  I was still feeling kinda distant from the reality of giving birth and having a newborn so soon but since I knew it was coming I embraced the anticipation and began looking for signs of impending labor.  At my last OB appointment my midwife said that I was at 4cm and then on Wednesday I showed signs of losing my mucous plug and bloody show.  Everyone I talked to said "It's going to be soon and it's going to happen fast."  I was hoping they were correct but I was much more skeptical.  On Thursday evening I began to have some mild contractions time-able between 5-10 minutes apart.  Russ watched a movie while I slept next to him, hoping this would be it.  I made it through the night with the contractions mostly gone by morning.

I had these same contractions on and off all day Friday.  Friday afternoon they got a bit stronger and while on the phone with my mom we timed them at 5-6 minutes apart.  My mom started getting super excited and was saying that this was it.  I remembered the night before and wasn't about to call this the real deal yet.  But Mom called my sister and soon Jill was calling me to ask if I wanted her & her husband to take the girls for the night.  I warned her that I wasn't convinced yet that this was the time but figured that if it was it would be so much easier not having to worry about the kids in the middle of the night.  So off the girls went to their Aunt & Uncle's house.  The contractions held pretty steady but didn't get any stronger or any closer together.  Knowing my regular ob/midwife was out of town for the entire weekend and not knowing if this was the real deal I went ahead and called the hospital at about 10 pm to get some advice.  I found out the doctor on call was the doctor that my chiropractor had advised me to stay away from and so when this particular md told me to give it more time and try to get some sleep, I felt better about doing so.  I slept and woke up the next morning in my own bed without the contractions ever getting any worse.

It was nice waking up to a quiet, child free home for a change.  Although I felt kinda bad about my kids staying with my sister all night when I wasn't even in labor.  Russ & I enjoyed a quiet morning.  We slept in, ate some breakfast, and then headed to the mall to do some walking (since it was drizzly & cold outside) hoping to help labor along.  After the mall, we ate lunch at an actual sit-down restaurant and simply enjoyed each other's company.  :)  We stopped in to check on the kids and decide what to do about them for the rest of the evening.  They were glad to see us but in the end we decided that they may as well spend another night with Jill.  We came home and I ate a piece of toast and the contractions started again.  This time a little stronger.

Russ and I started watching a movie and the contractions were definitely getting more painful but weren't any closer together.  They averaged between 5-10 minutes.  Half way through the movie at about 8:30 pm I decided that I didn't want to wait anymore and let it get later & later.  I decided to at least go to the birth center and see where I was with everything and go from there.  I also knew that the on-call doctor was someone I felt better about seeing.  Russ took a shower while I finished packing up.  I called my mom & sister to let them know that we were heading to the hospital and out the door we went.

We got to the hospital sometime around 9 o'clock.  One of the nurses, 'Michelle', (one of the best nurses I've ever had, btw.) got us settled in the room, asked all the usual questions and checked me.  She said I was still around a 4, maybe a 5 and then she contacted the ob about what to do.  She had me walk around the hospital for 45 minutes (until 10 pm) to see if the contractions got any stronger and if I dilated anymore.  Russ & I walked the circle around the birth center so many times.  It almost felt silly walking in circles for so long. I started singing paraphrases of the 'Soul Coughing' song.  "They told me to walk around in circles, walk around in circles, walk around in circles."  :)

At 10 pm, Michelle checked me again and then had another nurse check.  They concluded that I was probably close to a 6 so I got to stay.  They officially checked me in, got me an id bracelet, an IV, and set up the room for a delivery.  The on-call doctor came by and introduced herself and checked me.  Then, at my okay, she broke my water.   I expected the contractions to immediately get worse but it actually seemed to take a bit before things got going again after that.  But got going they did.

My contractions slowly began to get worse.  I had Russ give me my Ipod so I could listen to some worship music to distract me during the strengthening contractions.  This was pretty effective.  One of the first few songs I listened to was "Be Still and Know" by Steven Curtis Chapman and that was exactly the kind of song I needed to calm my nerves and get my mind back in the right place.   If I concentrated on the songs, I found the pain much more bearable.  Michelle kept asking how I was doing and requested that I let her know if I felt any need to push.  I went to the bathroom and we joked about me not having a toilet baby.  I started feeling like I wanted to push and upon checking was told I was still only at an 8 and should resist any urge to push during the next few contractions.  This happened again and then she suggested I lie on my side for a couple contractions and then she'd check again.  After two painful contractions on my side I became insistant on pushing and almost started to freak out a little.  I was ready and it was pushing time.

They got the bed "set-up" for pushing which was extremely uncomfortable for me but I was in no position to do much about anything.  The doctor & several nurses were there and Russ was to my right and the pushing began.  I pushed through one contraction when they took my Ipod away so that they wouldn't get it all gooey when they went to put the baby on my chest later.  It was funny that I had been listening to music the whole time but didn't necessarily realize what a difference it made until they took it away and I could only hear the medical bustle of the room.  Michelle was the only voice I remember hearing as she encouraged me & counted through the 10 pushes it took to bring my baby into the world.  My experience in having children really helped me this time around I noticed because in those moments of pushing when I felt so much pain & felt like I just wanted to quit because I felt like I needed to breathe or take a break, I would remind myself that if I could just hold out a tiny bit longer then I may very well be finished and be done with all of it that much sooner.   This was one of my last thoughts as I suffered through that 10th push that caused Kira to be born just seconds shy of midnight.  It makes me laugh to think that if I had given into those desperate thoughts of needing to take a breather in the midst of pushing, perhaps my baby would have been born on the 14th instead of the 13th.  :)

They did a very quick wipe down and put the baby on my chest for some skin-to-skin time.   And then they waited a minute (per our request) before clamping the cord and having Russ cut it.  I was still very uncomfortable. Delivering the placenta helped relieve some of the discomfort but even after that-- my back hurt, my legs hurt, my uterus and other parts hurt so it was hard to really concentrate on the beautiful little baby on my chest.  The one thing I remember most about her was how purple her head and face were and how blue her fingers were.  And I was amazed at how perfectly pretty her short dark hair was on her beautifully shaped head.

It was a new experience getting the skin-to-skin time.  It was new procedure for our hospital that they began incorporating some time since I gave birth 3 years ago.  They put her naked little body still with residual goo on my chest and just left us alone while they cleaned up the room.  Russ called my mom and let her know that Kira had been born.  I did my best to snuggle up with my naked little baby and soak in the reality of it all.  Eventually she nursed for the first time and I was ready to give her over and get myself cleaned up and feeling better.  (Mostly because I thought I was gonna pee myself if I didn't get up soon!)  I don't know how long I held her but I loved how much more laid back the whole experience was.  No rushing, no poking & prodding my baby until after I had had a chance to bond for awhile.  Such a contrast to the way things happened with the others.

So it was at this time that they finally weighed & measured the baby while I got up went to the bathroom and took a partial shower.  Russ stuck close to the baby while I was busy taking care of me.  The NICU nurse came in and did a health assessment and declared Kira perfectly healthy.  They got her all "checked in" and tagged.  And then one of the student nurses came and gave her her first bath.  In all of these things, Kira was never removed from the room.  Her temp was a little low so they had her rest on the warmer for awhile before they would move us into our recovery room.  While we waited to be moved I ate a Lara bar to help quench my extreme hunger from having skipped supper.

It was sometime around 2:30 am (I think) when we were moved into room 163 for the duration of our stay and said goodbye to our wonderful delivery nurse, Michelle.  We spent an hour mooning over Kira before Russ decided to get some sleep.  I stayed up a bit waiting for our new nurse to come in and take our 4 am vitals.  Ended up only getting about 2 1/2 hours of sleep total that night.

When I woke up on Sunday morning and held my Kira, it was crazy for me to think about God's timing in bringing this sweet little girl into my life.  October 14th, 2011 was the day that I found out that my other baby had no heartbeat and would inevitably be miscarried.  And October 14th, 2012 was the day I first got to enjoy Kira.  God is good and my baby is beautiful!  :)

Mother's Day

Every year Mother's Day comes around and I take a moment to appreciate my mom and to revel in the love I have for my children.  This year the day holds a little extra significance.

May 13th, 2012 was my due date.

Until this week, I hadn't even realized that the due date of my heaven child fell on Mother's Day.  It's a bittersweet thought.  Losing that child changed me...but I can't say that I feel overly sad.  I know where that child rests and while I wish heaven wasn't our meeting place...I now anticipate the arrival of a new little life that could not have been if my fourth baby hadn't been taken to Jesus.

This Mother's Day, I will rejoice that I have been afforded the privilege of bearing children...something that many women would love to have but were not given.  I will celebrate the lives of my three girls and ruminate on the joys that their existence have brought to me.  I will honor the child that I did not meet and surrender that heartache to my Lord.  I will anticipate the birth of the one growing inside of me and trust to God his/her health and well-being.  I will thank my husband for walking this path with me and for making me a mother.  I will remember all that my mother invested in me and appreciate the sacrifices that she made so that I could become the woman I am today.

I will hug my children tighter;  I will tell them I love them; and I will commit to doing my best to raise them into people who honor the Lord and love others with fervor.

This Mother's Day, I may look back for a moment...but only so that I can look forward with more clarity and live & love in a way that will please the One who gave me the gift of motherhood.

For it is, indeed, a gift and I intend to cherish it.