At the hospital...

We arrived at the hospital Thursday morning at 7:30 am after getting the kids off to shane & Chelsea's & G-ma & g-pa's house. Naturally, I didn't sleep more than my normal 2 1/2 hours the night before, but excitment, fear and my 40 extra pounds were keeping me wide awake. After changing into my super sexy gown, wiping things down with Lysol wipes and saying a silent prayer, I hopped in bed and waited for the fun to begin. After my first exam, my nurse said, "Oh my, your body is SOOO ready to have this baby." Yeah, I told her, "My doctor has been saying that for almost 2 weeks! At 9:00 AM, God sent an angel to my room and I recieved my epadurial. A little after noon, they added a little pitocin ( I didn't need much to get me to a 10) and after 30 minutes of horrible contrations and 18 minutes of pushing, she was here! Willow entered the world at 1:45 PM weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. I couldn't have asked for a better experience... Trav & Andrea helped through every minute of it, my nurses were incredible, Willow was healthy and I felt really great after I lost 15 instant pounds!
I was once again reminded of God and his amazing plan, his miracles and his love for me. I just layed there in awe of what he had just given Trav and I- and although I lose sight of that everyday, I was so grateful to be reminded of how blessed I am to be a Mother. With tears in our eyes, I think we both gave a silent prayer to him, thanking him for our beautiful family.
After she arrived, I think I ate those 15 pounds right back- I was starving and didn't care at the embaressing amount of food I was consuming. I felt wonderful afterwards and visited with friends and family for the next several hours. Trav picked up the kids from G-ma and G-pa's house earlier and brought them to see us. The kids were pretty excited to see her and a little shocked that they really were! Trav took the kids home and stayed there with them overnight. I closed my eyes for a combined total of 15 minutes and was a complete zombie by morning, not to mention sore and in LOTS of pain. We survived it all though and were able to leave around noon (we stayed to have lunch though!)So, at 1:00 PM we were leaving with our little angel off to pick up the girls ang get home in time for Tristin to get back from school.I layed down for a hour, took some Advil and then quickly realized there would be no sleep for me with 4 kids in the house, so I gave up my dream of sleeping for a few silent hours and just asked God to give me a few minutes at bedtime.
Angie brought us YUMMY dinner last night which we devoured, and then Trav got the kids ready for bed while I relaxed, took a bath and fed Willow. I must admit my joy when I realized I slept 60 consecutive minutes last night! No interuptions! Although I'm still a walking crazy woman, I feel a little better than yesterday. There's nothing like giving birth, that's for sure!

Leaving for the hospital- Last photos before the big event...

Belive me, I did NOT want to post the next 20 pictures to come, but I knew 5 years from now, I would be grateful I did, so here goes...
There's my tummy right before we left for the hospital, and my last picture with 3 kids (right before we left, too)

A few things NOT to count on...

I've learned throughout my short 29 years that there are a few things you should rarely count on. For example:

1- The repair man. Seriously! Does he ever really come during the time slot that was agreed upon?

2- House closing dates/getting the keys on the date they said it would be ready. We are at their mercy, just impatientaly waiting as if we didn't have a lives.

3-The Target clearanced item you've been waiting all season to go on sale for 75% off- Yeah right, they are all gone by 30%-50% off!

and last but not least...

4- Babies coming when doctors assure you they will! (I love my Dr by the way!)I just assumed that because she knew my "girl parts" better than I did, that I could trust every word she said, so after 9 days of walking around with stripped membranes, a lost mucus plug, contractions and almost dialated to a 5, there is still no baby! No problem normally, but don't say we're going to have a baby in a few days if we're NOT going to have a baby! Last week was one of the top 5 longest weeks of my life (right next to : #1- the week before I got married, #2- the week before I gave birth to Tristin #3- the week before I gave birth to Daisy & #4- the week before I gave birth to Grace!)

So... for the 5 of you who actually read/check my blog, we are still waiting for the baby, but out wait is almost over. She'll be here in 48 hours for sure! (Thursday mornig at 7:30 we'll be induced!) When I saw my Dr. yesterday, she just stood there checking my cervix stunned, saying, "I just don't know why you haven't had this baby yet, I still think you'll go before Thursday." All I was thinking at that moment, was "Please get out of my cervix now and let me sit up" (it's a good thing I even made yesterday's appointment. She told me not to even make it because we would have a baby before then!)

So... there's the scoop. Hopefully I'll be home Friday with our stubborn little bundle of joy and I can get pictures up to show you!

Getting ready for baby Willow!!!

I am going to the Dr. in the morning to get things started, and I can hardly believe we're at this point already! Last week I was dilated to a 3 and 60% effaced with lots of contractions coming, so my WONDERFUL Dr. said we would strip my membranes on my next app.(tomorrow) and have a baby next week! I confessed my love for her and skipped out of her office with a huge smile plastered on my face! All week, I've been finishing up projects, cleaning, organizing, packing the hospital bag, diaper bag & getting last minute touches on things and I feel ready! (Not for labor, of course) We've waited so long for her to get here and we're thrilled! We can't wait to hold her and see if she has as much black hair as all the others did. So, wish me luck tomorrow and say a prayer that my cervix continues to work her magic- and I'll post pictures as soon as I get home!

My baby shower...

Thank you so much everyone!!!

My baby shower...

I have the greatest friends who had a baby shower for me a few nights ago! It was great to sit with friends, eat and open presents for the baby! Thank you so much everyone!!!

Tristin teaches himself to ride a bike!

That's right, Tristin hopped on his friend's bike last week, and off he went! No training wheels, nothin' It worked out great because just a few days ago our neighbor that was moving, asked if I wanted a bike for him and I said "sure, thank you". So after fixing the tires, Tristin has been in Heaven riding up and down the street. (We don't have side walks, so that's why he didn't have one before this, really, I'm not a bad Mom!)

Canning is complete!

I'll be honest, this year's canning was a little more difficult being 8 & 9 months pregnant, and I couldn't have done it without Angie! Bless her heart... she was swinging from trees to get fruit out at the orchard, lifting most of the heavy stuff, listening to me complain for over a month, watching me eat all her candy, and putting up with all my other "wonderful qualities". Somehow we survived it together! We finished up our apples 2 days ago and were able to get 31 pints of apple sauce, 20 freezer bags of apple pie filling, 1 dehydrator full of cinnimon & sugar apples and some left over to eat! Did I mention those were FREE Gala apples too? 3 1/2 bushels! It was a blast, but I am pretty worn out. Thanks Angie for everything- I love you!
We did:

325 jars
141 bags of freezer food

Sleeping Beauties...

The other day, the girls zonked out on my bed and I thought Grace looked so cute snuggling on her sister. I love these little girls with all my heart. They are the reason I wanted to be a mother.

Labor Day...

On Labor day we went out to Swan Falls for a few hours. We couldn't have asked for better weather- it was a nice little get away.