Hi Ho the Derry-o..

The farmer and the cow.

Halloween just keeps getting more fun as they get older. I love it when little tikes come to the door Trick or Treating... there's so much more wonder and joy in their faces than the average 8-10 year old who is basically saying "Gimme some candy!"

Nucky truly sees wonder in Halloween. Too bad she doesn't feel this way about the birth of our Lord... there's still time though.

Birth Announcement tries

We tried many, many times to get a cute one. Wow, the yelling and gnashing of teeth involved. I finally decided to just do a photo of baby alone. Here are my other attempts though. Kind of cute anyway.

For the record, some cute things Nucky has said lately:

"Mommy, you need to turn the wimper wipers on, it's raining."

Talking about the little boy on Caillou named Jeffrey --

Mommy: Perry, what is the name of Jason's brother on Caillou?

Perry (very resolutely): Jeopardy

We watch Jeopardy faithfully every night at 7:30 usually pausing it until after bedtime. I guess she's heard a lot about it.

When time was getting closer for baby to arrive, we talked a lot about going to the hospital and coming home with the baby. ONe day she asked me if we were going to take Bruiser back and pick up a new baby. In her dreams, I guess!

Now onto #2:

Bruiser needs a new name. Kind of like in the Bible when people did something notable and God changed their name (Abraham, Paul, Jacob, etc)... let's just call her Squeezie. Some notes on her right now. She is the quintessential rascal, always messing with something yet constantly happy and laughing. A true joy to have around, she keeps us all laughing with her silliness. As far as the messing around, one morning in the craziness that is called getting ready for school and me trying to meet a client right after I drop them off, I was busy getting my make up on in my room. Baby and Nucky were with me. Squeezie had been missing and quiet for at least 5 minutes. What could she be doing? (Always the question when there's no sign of her and all is quiet) She was sitting on the kitchen floor with the syrup bottle in hand, had poured it in a huge puddle on the floor and was dipping her whole hand in there and licking it. If I hadn't been so enraged, I might've stopped to laugh and/or take a picture. She has also been found in the laundry room with the scoop in her hand and powder detergent all over the floor around her... and powder footprints thru my kitchen. Don't even get me started on the soap pump in the bathroom...I could go on and on.

And for baby:

Sleeping well thru the night. Usually goes down at 9 and up at 6, then back down. Thank you, God, for a good baby so far.

Very smiley and content. Smiles easily at all of us, but often at her sisters despite their torment.

Gaining well, probably at least 13 lbs now.

Mommy:

Tired but used to it.

Busy with clients. Good.

Excited for the holidays that will be hosted at our house for Thanksgiving and Xmas.

Reading a lame book -- don't laugh... it's called Size 12 is Not Fat.

Daddy:

Renovating our basement bathroom that had a miniscule vanity, carpet on the floor, gray 80's wallpaper and lovely faux wood soap holder and towel bars.

Always an encouragement to me.

The best dad to these 3 beloveds. Truly loves to play with them (hmm, is that in contrast to me??).

Even more excited about the holidays. Never met anyone who loves Christmas more than this guy.

Thrilled over the Yellow Jackets football season thus far.

Wow, that was a long post!

Mere-boo!

Love this little hat that Auntie Bess made for Bruiser.


Tummy time.

Big smiles for the camera

She's often transported in some type of body wrap. This Ergo works great and is super comfy. Unfortunately, she didn't even know she went to the pumpkin patch.

Happy Birthday Blog!

It's been a year since I started this beloved blog... wow, the memories. Ok, being sarcastic. Maybe my new resolution could be to update more? Hmmm... I'll think about it. Went to the Pumpkin Patch again this year for the third year in a row. Beautiful fall weather and lovely colors. As Gordie the mechanically-speaking pumpkin on the hayride says, "We jus' luv the cool fall are (air)." Went with PALS, as you can see below. PALS is now PALMS, I guess. That's an acronym for their names in case you haven't read my July post.

Life with 3

We fight over who gets to hold her!

Truly loves her babysister!

Not much of an ogler, but I do love my baby!

All of us loving on baby! These photos were taken by a friend who takes awesome pics. Thanks Abbie! MM (Mary Mac) was about 3 or 4 weeks old. Now she's 7 weeks today. TIme is flying. Speaking of MM, she needs to eat, so I can't spend much time here, just wanted to share some photos. She looks so much different now and has filled out a ton. I'll update soon, I hope!

Baby No Name?

No, she has a name but I feel funny about giving names on the blog hence the aliases... so, see Facebook for that! Or email me. Here are some pictures of her! We'll just call her Mary Mac for now!

New baby girl

We are thrilled to welcome baby girl #3 to our family! She is beautiful and came into the world very easily (all things considered). I was able to have a VBAC which was my primary prayer before her birth. I already feel awesome and keep telling Lover how excited I am that it all went so well. We're grateful for all of our praying friends who helped us along!

For the record, she weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and was 19" long. Head 13".

A little more detail for my memory that will lapse quickly (and because here I sit in my hospital room with little to do... sleeping babe, husband at home, no nurses checking blood pressure, etc. - am I on vacation?).

Here's the story:
Lover and I were planning to go together to my pre-op visit to the doctor's office on Fri morning at 8:20. I woke up at 12am with a few contractions and fell back asleep until 4 when I had a few more. I was in and out of sleep until 5:30 or 6. We both got up at 6 just b/c we were awake and needed to get things ready to get out of the house by 7:45 or so. I went on a walk at 6:30 trying to make some contractions come. They had subsided again (and I was so ready to have some consistent ones and go into labor!). By about 7:15, I was having a good # of inconsistent contractions. Lover started getting anxious -- he hates this part of the labor process b/c it's so unknown but it definitely puts him into "go" mode.

Thankfully we had childcare for the girls set up for the dr visit (thank you Wolthuises) for about 4 hrs. We dropped them off and called the doctor to see if we should go directly to hospital or into the office. They said office. The Lord was really going before us in all of this b/c the dr's office served as my triage and my quick entry into a hospital room. [Side note: the hospital was jam packed yesterday and birthed a record 20-something babies. One woman was trying to deliver in the Lobby and another delivered in triage. They didn't have enough beds to go around. ] I was 3cm and 80% effaced. Because the hospital was so full, the doctor said she might send me home and have me come back in the afternoon. I was aghast (inwardly) b/c I knew I would have a baby by then. I know my laboring self better than that. Anyway, they put me on a monitor and realized, "hey, she is having contractions at least every 5 minutes" -- let's send her to the hospital.

Arrive at DMC, wait with about 6 other laboring women in a lobby, get admitted to a room ahead of some others b/c I'm VBACing... they want to keep me monitored. Skipped triage and "relaxed" in our nicely appointed L&D room. Contractions getting stronger, IV in with some Finnegran -- knocked out but waking with some contractions. Where is my epidural???? Oh no, they lost a tube of blood so must get more blood before we can get the epidural. Ahhhh, why do people do this naturally? Pain is great and I'm in tears with every contraction. Finally, epidural about 1pm. Ahhh, hallelujah, I'm asleep again.

The contractions are coming on strong if I can feel the amount of pressure I'm feeling. I keep mentioning this to the nurse who really doesn't want to check me b/c they just put the penicillin bag up (group B strep) and it needs to be there for at least 4 hrs before you deliver (yeh, right!!). I persist until she checks me and says I'm at 9 cm now -- was at 6 just 30 minutes prior. She says things are still intact down there... i.e. just chill and keep laboring. This is nature's way of progressing your labor so you will feel pressure. Well, I've always heard women say "I just knew I needed to push" so thankfully the doctor walked in shortly thereafter and I told her I just REALLY felt the pressure and might could deal with it but kind of felt like I needed to push. She checked me immediately and said, "Yes, there's the head, you're ready." So here we go. Next contraction that the nurse and Lover were ready for, I pushed. It felt so good to be able to push and not squeeze the baby in with every contraction as I realized I'd been doing. ANyway, 2nd contraction, she came out. It was super fast and super amazing.

The most amazing thing is that there was never even a mention of a c-section. Heartrates were good and smooth the whole time. At some point (after epidural?), Lover asked the dr if we could assume we were having a vaginal birth... she said "absolutely."

Ok, that's enough for now. If you read this far, I'm impressed. This is more for my own memory than for blog readers, but I did edit somewhat in case you didn't want TMI!

I think I'll ready my book. Baby is in the nursery with pediatrician. I'm solo... weird!

39 weeks and 4 days

Newly pregnant... maybe 11 weeks?


32 weeks



35 weeks




39 weeks





Still waiting to see what's in there... I really thought we'd have a baby by now but it looks like the Lord has other plans. I'm hoping to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after Caesarean) and praying this one comes before Monday at 10 AM when I'm scheduled for a c-section.

Lake Keowee with friends

Gorgeous view from most spots in the house... ahh, the SC upstate!


Not sure about life jackets. Love the water though!
This sweet one had to be taken to urgent care while there due to breathing difficulty.


The PALS... acronym of their names. They're getting along like siblings which can be good and bad but we'll focus on the good. They enjoyed being together and did very well this weekend.


Cruising on the boat was so much fun.

As long as he was driving, things were pretty safe. When she got behind the wheel, watch out!

Thanks to the Wolthuis' we had a blast at their parents' lake house in Seneca, SC, near Clemson. Lots of relaxing, climbing of a giant hill/mtn down to the water, riding in the boat and playing Settlers.

Beach with McCoys

Bibi and Gogo with their grands.

My dad is known for bringing a bushel of boiled peanuts to the beach every year. This is the within the first hour of our arrival... he's indoctrinating Bruiser on peanuts and making a good friend. She loved them! Who doesn't???

Glad we brought that tricycle. The kids fought over who would ride it and then compromised on at least riding on the back if they couldn't drive.

Cautious girl surprises us and rides the go carts with Daddy!

We had such a wonderful time getting together with the Davises and my parents for our annual beach trip. My parents are so generous to use their vacation time and dollars to take all of us on with them to Garden City Beach, SC every year. When people ask where that is, I always say "just north of Pawleys Island" about which Lover makes fun. He says, "just say it's Myrtle Beach." I refuse. I have trashy associations with Myrtle and like to think that GC is a good ways south of there. I digress.

The funnest part of the trip was seeing how well all of our children got along. My sister has 4 ranging from 8 to almost 2. They all played so well with my girls and enjoyed each other's company. They'd disappear for lengths of time without any parental intervention (is that good?)... we loved it.

We all ate peanuts and drank our favorite beverages (some are pregnant remember!) and enjoyed good fellowship.

Oh, something I've wanted to add to my posts is what book I'm reading at the time so I can look back and remember.

At the beach and since, I've read:

Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Just finished Into Thin Air by John Krakauer

Starting on Shem Creek by Dorothea Benton Frank (never read her stuff)

Bruiser's First Haircut

I had to do it! I love a bob and can't stand the straggles, so, against many people's wishes, I cut off the curls to go for the neater look. The curls are still there and add much body though. She did very well and didn't seem to notice what I was doing. I need to find a pic of Nucky's first haircut... that was more challenging.

My Big Girl

During her "room time" lately, she's wanted to play car. She'll go all over the house and collect our small chairs and make a car to drive her babies around.


In the front yard baby pool. The girls have really enjoyed a "little" dip in the water and it sure saves on a pool membership! Honestly I am so grateful we didn't join the pool this year b/c we haven't been in town much AND b/c Bruiser is a crazy girl at the pool. She literally stepped into the side of the big pool last time we were there. It was silent (I was standing right beside her) and turned to find her a foot below the surface of the water. She dropped like a rock to the bottom. Gave her a good scare, but I'd bet she will try it again. I'm going to get her a bumper sticker that say "Ain't Skeered" for her scooter.



Reading to little sis. It's rare to catch moments like this around our house!

Nucky is growing up so quickly and I think that I hardly notice it or am saddened by it. That makes me sad. Everyone says they grow up fast, and I think as a mother of little ones, you're so ready for them to move on to the next phase. I look back at some pics of her when she was little and hardly remember. I want to cherish her more than I do. I love moments when I can just look at her playing happily and being kind to her sister. I love hearing the funny things she has to say. Last night when I tucked her in, she asked me to go check on Sarah (a doll who she puts to bed in the basement most nights before she goes to bed -- mind you, she puts the doll to sleep in a bouncy seat on a different level of the house in a far corner... why? who knows). She said I needed to go tie Sarah's shoe and buckle her in her seat. Then she told me when I go in there that "she might be a little bit sad, so just be gentle and tickle her a little bit." I'll have to remember that advice when this next little person comes around.

Catching up/Bruiser

This should be the title for every post. I think I'll just look at this first year of my blog as a trial run. Ok, no more comments about my lack of good bloggership.

Things to catch up on:

Bruiser will be called such b/c she cannot stay scratch or bruise free. She seems to run into trouble however she can, but a primary way is in our driveway. The girls have great fun riding "scooters" (nothing like scooters) down our sloped drive. When Bruiser first started doing it, I could see the danger. My mom insisted on a helmet, but we never got one... hmm, might've been a good investment. Here are some pics of Bruiser. She got a black eye at my parents' house falling into the corner of the TV cabinet.

Fun at Botanical Gardens

My belly at 26 weeks!

Went to one of our favorite spots for a picnic and some play with Bibi and Gogo. This was back at the end of April (yep, I'm a terrible blogger) so who knew the fountains would be on? Lover couldn't believe I let the girls play in their undies/diaper just b/c of my need to keep up appearances... but "everybody else was doing it!" Bruiser only wanted to drink the water in the fountain! Nucky is still shy and cautious around water.

Where have we been?

Here, there and everywhere. I'm going to start with the beach trip to the gulf with the Colorado girls (Bess and Marce -- missed the other 2!). I had so much fun getting to catch up with some of my closest girlfriends. I sure wish I lived closer to them. Also got to hang out with Edgar and Kelli and Noelle since we stayed at the McKees house. It was hard to lug all the stuff around being pregnant with 2 needy girls, but so worth it! Nucky had a great time in the sand and especially in the pool. TSG, who will now be known as Bruiser (I'll describe later in another post), did not care about the beach and only wanted to dig thru my beach bag looking for snacks.