Cade's First Birthday

Seriously, all but one (decent) picture I got of Cade all day is of him eating something. I intended to get some shots of him being cute or actually SMILING, but I guess these food shots say a lot about where he is growth-wise right now.

Anyway, we never have done huge, all-out planned birthday parties for the first few years (they don't know or care anyway), so it was pretty much a regular fun day with some EXTRA fun added in. It was a long, full day yesterday. School in the morning, cake-making and naps (for all 3 kids) in the afternoon, then a quick peanut butter sandwich dinner and out the door to get to our first night of Awana! The girls did great and had fun. Richard and I volunteered and ended up helping out in a very full, chaotic 4 year old class. Cade used his good looks and great fussing abilities to milk all the ladies in his room and be held the whole night. (Lots of stories within this one paragraph here, but I shall move on…)

So we got home around 8:45pm tired, still hungry with our half-dinner long gone, and Cade was one cranky fellow. So here's the awesome video footage from his cake time:

He was yelling the whole time we were singing and then when I tried to prevent him from burning himself on the candle I scratched his hand. But once we got past that he sure did enjoy that frosting. I cut into the cake a bit after the video stopped and he ate a ton of that too.

So after the traditional singing and cake we did baths and all. Cade loves bath time, splashing, running around naked afterwards, etc and he's always in a pretty good mood when he gets his jams on too. Here's some fun we were having before bed. (He gets more stumbly than usual when it's late and he's tired.)

After this little game of chase we all sat down for some Bible reading, memory verses, and Cade's last time nursing (there will be a whole separate post for that whenever I get my wits about me). It was a great day and Richard and I are so thankful to be this little guy's parents.

First Birthday Cake

When Ava was turning one she had never had the slightest bit of sugar and I wanted to make a cake for her that we would all like and that wouldn't blast her into a sugar high. After a brief search for "healthy" cakes, I decided on this Applesauce Healthy Cake. I can't remember where I found it so I can't give proper credit, but here's a picture of the recipe itself that I copied down into my personal recipe book. (You can probably google it and find where it originally came from.)

It was a total hit. On her first birthday, Ava ate like literally half the cake all by herself. So it became our traditional first birthday cake and now it's also the one we make at Christmas each year to sing happy birthday to Jesus. Looking at the recipe above, I personally use 4 T sugar, no walnuts, and good old frosting rather than confectioner's sugar.

Today Ava, Raina, and I made this Applesauce Healthy Cake for Cade! It was so fun to bring this tradition out again and the girls are no strangers to the deliciousness of this cake so they were pumped about helping. All three kids are down for naps right now (!!!!!!!whoop!!!!!!!) and the cake just came out of the oven to cool. I am about to get myself ready to take everyone to Awana tonight (kick-off night for the year) and then I'll frost the cake in a bit.

Speaking of delicious recipes, we had a few families over for dinner and just for fun the other night and my new friend, Jen, brought some cupcakes that night. Unfortunately she left them here for us to share with neighbors finish off as quickly as possible. They're called Banana Chocolate Toffee Cupcakes (which doesn't even sound like something I'd like, honestly) and they are AmAzInG. Here's the link to her blog with the recipe for those too. Enjoy!
http://www.bakedbyanintrovert.com/banana-chocolate-toffee-cupcakes/

Cade is Almost ONE

I can't believe our sweet baby boy is almost ONE YEAR OLD! This year has flown by with a big move, trips, and lots more coming to plan for. I will definitely be posting about Cade's cake smashing/eating next week. We're not planning on doing a huge party or anything; just making an Applesauce Healthy Cake like we did for both of the girls and letting him go to town on it.

And here's a little about what I'm doing as Cade passing his one year milestone...

A Whole New Adventure

So… We have officially decided to homeschool Ava, starting Kindergarten this year! I sent in my "letter of intent" to the superintendent of our school district here in VA and I have ordered the curriculum we finally decided on (My Father's World). For a while I was praying that I would want to do what we knew we were being called to do; well now I can't wait! Richard is totally on board and super supportive as well.

I don't have time for a long post today, or really anything to say about it yet anyway, but there will be more to come. :)

Breaking Free of Weary

A couple weeks ago my grandma called one morning and delightfully asked "What are you guys up to this morning?" I sighed, looked around and said "Well, we just got up and Cade is screaming because he needs to nurse, Raina wet the bed for the first time in a long time and is crying because she's upset about it and needs a bath, and Ava has already asked me about 17 times when she can have breakfast." (And Richard is at work.) Gramma chuckled knowingly and said "Oh, so just life stuff, huh?" Yes.

Ava is strong-willed, challenging, sassy, back-talking, questioning, and pumped about being 5 years old now (super grown). Raina is sensitive, emotional, snuggly, tender, and excited about life at the sweet age of 2.5. Cade is an awesome, easy baby that eats and sleeps well at the age of (not quite) 4 months old but still needs everything done for him. He just mastered rolling from back to front but now seems to have forgotten how to roll from front to back and gets stuck screaming face down on the floor (while the dogs try to lick whatever spit-up may have escaped during his angry tummy time). A & Rae play great together but I have to keep a close eye to make sure A is not railroading Rae. All three of them require constant mental attention like thinking about, verbalizing, directing, and/or doing what they each need to do for us to leave the house ever. They all require physical assistance with so many things ("Will you wipe me please, Mom!?" or "Can I sit with you?" or "Will you hold my hand?" etc) All of these are necessary and/or wonderful special things but while I used to consider physical touch one of my primary love languages, now I want everyone to Get.Off.My.Body!

Every day is a constant juxtaposition of "I was made to be a mother! I love this and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!" and "I can't wait for them all to be in bed and if anyone wakes me up in the middle of the night AGAIN, so help me!"

I found this blog to be funny and true in many ways. It is a little exaggerated at points but really captures the feelings that go with the daily grind. I have felt so weary with our 3 lately; not tired, but weary. To quote the blog writer, "There is no time when nobody needs anything. Ever."
    http://shortwinded.net/so-you-would-like-to-have-three-children/

There are so many things that I would like to do (crafting with the girls, working on reading with Ava, more floor time and face time with Cade, solidifying letters and numbers with Raina, more quality kid-free time with Richard, implementing more structure and intention in our business, having more meaningful conversations as a friend/sister/daughter/sponsor, etc… but by the time I deal with all those little things that start each morning and continue throughout the day, I feel like the day is already shot and maybe I can try again tomorrow. I don't believe this is completely reality and what I should settle for but it IS how I feel. (It's like what they say about lots of paperwork; death by a thousand paper cuts.) It's not that each thing is so particularly hard and trying, it's just that it's endless and I spend so much time putting out little fires that I lose sight of tackling the tasks and goals I intended to focus on. Do I need to seriously reevaluate my time management? Do I need to reevaluate what I think is important and needing to be done? Is this just the "season of life" that I'm in? I think the answer is YES.

So, for now my first plan of action is pray, pray, pray for wisdom and direction and to read the following two things upon waking each day:

***Isaiah 40:28-31

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

  -and-

***The 7 Decisions for Success (from The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews)

1. The buck stops here. I am responsible for my past and my future.

2. I will seek wisdom. I will be a servant to others.

3. I am a person of action. I seize this moment. I choose now.

4. I have a decided heart. My destiny is assured.

5. Today I will choose to be happy. I am the possessor of a grateful spirit.

6. I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive myself.

7. I will persist without exception. I am a person of great faith.

If you haven't read The Traveler's Gift, I highly recommend it. It is an easy read (in story format) that I was able to finish a few minutes at a time before passing out in exhaustion falling asleep each night.

Almost 8 Weeks!

So, holy moly, Cade will be 8 weeks old tomorrow and he has so much life under his belt already! I have a little catching up to do here so bear with me...

September 10th Cade was born. September 30th Ava, Raina, and I made a road trip to GA (the same day Richard left to be in the field for a couple weeks). Cade was a champ the whole way, sleeping mostly and nursing on stops. Ava and Raina did great too; it just takes a little more work on my end to keep them comfortable and occupied for a long trip like that. Every now and then I would hear "My booty hurts!" coming from little Rae after sitting in her seat for so long. (Can you blame her? Have you seen how thin the layer of fabric and "cushioning" is between their little booties and the hard plastic seat? My booty hurts too, Rae, and I'm sitting in the nice seat.) They read lots of books, drew lots of pictures, listened to lots of music, and watched a couple movies on Richard's ancient portable DVD player. :)  I think that road trips with kids are totally great and fun for the kids. They are, however, a lot of work for the parent(s) so I would recommend lots of stops if you have help, not many stops if you don't have help, lots of prayer, and lots of Spark.

While we were in GA Cade met A LOT of family and friends for the first time. In addition to family visits he also attended his first AdvoCare event (sorry you were the only dude at Ladies Alive, little man) and went to his first wedding (and most of the festivities preceding the wedding itself that weekend)! That's the best/worst thing about exclusively breast feeding- Best: I can take Cade anywhere with me and he's good to go. Worst: I have to take Cade with me everywhere I go. In my normal everyday life it is never a problem to keep him with me or at least be able to get back to him every few hours, so I don't even have a breast pump, but it may be worth investing in one should I have events or wedding weekends in the future.

Hanging out at the breakfast table with A & Rae

At GA Ladies Alive

We came back to KS October 16th and resumed "normal" life as quickly as possible. Ava and Raina go to bed around 9-9:30pm and Cade goes to bed with Richard and me around 11pm. Cade sleeps until about 5-5:30am before waking to nurse, so I have been getting some pretty decent uninterrupted stretches of sleep! Let's see what has happened since we've been back:

Checking out Dad when we got home from GA

10/18 - Got his first piece of mail (social security card)

Has been enjoying some time in the bumbo

He loves hitting the hang down toys 

Tummy time (that turns to back time pretty quickly as he can roll over now)

Napping with the baby dolls

Being held by big sisters

Refereeing some Go Fish games (wow, that's a lot of dog hair on my pants)

I have yet to capture his elusive smile/smirk but Cade has started smiling (on purpose in response to stimuli) a lot more lately. Before he would "smile" in his sleep or while passing gas or something, but I never counted those kinds of "smiles." So stay tuned for a smiling picture. It is quite adorable I must say. :)

Cade is such an easy baby... I am even more laid back and go-with-the-flow this time around than I was with the girls... Richard is not deployed... I am older and "wiser"... I think it's a combination of these things, really, but the adjustment of going from 2 kids to 3 has been pretty seamless and for that I am so thankful. I know for sure that time management is and will continue to be an area for me to improve in as being on time getting out the door with all 3 always takes longer in reality than it does in my mind. And as they all get older, finding making time for each of them individually will be a challenge. But if those are the biggest things I have to worry about be intentional about, I think we are in good shape.

Birth Story of Baby #3

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

1:50am - I awoke suddenly with the feeling of wetness... my water broke! I was not really having any contractions but did notice some back pressure. I put my last minute toiletries and such in my hospital bag and got a few more things prepared for Ava and Raina to stay with Ms. Katelyn for the day.

3am - I called Labor & Delivery to tell them what was going on and see what they wanted me to do. The nurse I spoke to told me that since my water was broken I should just come in. Having clear fluid, good fetal movement, and no established contractions I decided to wait a bit. A little while later I called my doula, KayLee, and she agreed that staying home and getting some rest would be a good idea.

5:15am - Richard's alarm went off for him to get ready for PT at work. I filled him in on what was going on but he apparently was not quite awake and did not fully understand because he continued getting ready to go haha! I finally said "Richard, you're not going to work today. WE'RE HAVING A BABY TODAY!" (Ultimately, as labor was not yet fast and furious, he did go in long enough to tell the guys he wouldn't be in and to put things in place for him to be gone for a few days.)

7:30am - Everyone else in the house was awake and I decided to go for a walk up and down our street while Richard got the girls breakfast.

7:45am - My midwife, Kyanna, saw the report that I had called L&D earlier and called me to see what was going on. She asked me a few questions and told me it was time to really try to get things going. She suggested walking and nipple stimulation (helps the body release oxytocin, which is a hormone that causes contractions - ask any mom who has breast fed a baby after birth!).

9:20am - I had gotten my contractions into a pattern of every 2-5 minutes but had to really work to bring them on and keep them going. The contractions were not terrible but were strong enough that I didn't want to walk through them.

11:30am - I talked to KayLee & Kyanna again. Kyanna wanted me to come in to the hospital regardless of what was happening once I reached the 12 hour mark of my waters having been broken as I was at a higher risk of infection with ruptured membranes. With that "deadline" in mind I decided to eat lunch and get a little rest. 

12-12:45pm - I had three strong wake-me-up contractions while trying to sleep a bit but they still didn't develop into a closer pattern.

Right before we left for the hospital.

Our last picture as a family of 4

2pm - Katelyn came to our house to watch the girls and Richard and I headed to the hospital and met KayLee there. We walked around the halls while waiting to be taken to a room. I still wasn't having many noticeable contractions.

2:35pm - Kyanna checked me to confirm that membranes were ruptured and I was 4cm dilated, 80% effaced, -2 station. I was put on the monitors for 20 minute strip, fetal heart tones were in the 140s, and we started discussing options for how to get labor progressing. We decided that, rather than going with the drug pitocin, I would use an electric breast pump to stimulate my own body's release of oxytocin to get contractions going again.

3:25pm - I was on the pump and contractions were definitely increasing in strength and frequency. I was starting to notice a lot of back labor so KayLee and Richard helped relieve some of that pressure using the double hip squeeze. (They really got a good upper body workout throughout my entire active labor!)

3:50pm - Contractions were about 3 minutes apart and 40 seconds long. Around 4:30 we stopped pumping and walked around the unit for a while. Walking felt good and we stopped to work through contractions all around the hallways.

5pm - KayLee and Richard took turns using a Rebozo to sift my belly and help Baby come down.

This is what it looks like to do Rebozo sifting. I don't know why we didn't get a picture of this!

6:10pm - Kyanna checked me and I was 6 cm dilated, 80% effaced, -1 station. I did another 20 minute strip on monitor to make sure all was looking good with me and Baby then I got in the big tub. I really liked being on my hands and knees in the water and using the shower sprayer attachment with hot water on my low back during contractions helped with that back labor. We had the lights very low and some soft music playing. It was a very calm and relaxed atmosphere that allowed me to enjoy the time between contractions and really focus during the contractions themselves.

Kyanna was to be going off duty at 7pm and Baby was obviously not coming by then so we talked through options again knowing that the doctor who was coming on in her place would want to get things moving faster (likely with more intervention) if we didn't already have a plan in place that was clearly working. I was bummed that Kyanna was not going to be there for the birth but was so glad to have had her to work through things up to this point!

8pm - My contractions had really increased in intensity and length. KayLee really helped me regain my focus during some of the contractions by having me focus on parts of my breathing where I was carrying more tension. Having something to DO helped a lot. A quote from KayLee's notes during this time: "Richard tells Danelle, 'You got this babe.' Richard and Danelle work so well together." I love that man.

9pm - Dr. Nicholas wanted me out of the tub to be checked and on the monitors for another 20 minute strip. I really did NOT want to get out of the water (or really change anything at all for that matter) but was anxious to see where I was by then. I was 9 cm dilated, 100% effaced, 0 station, but Baby's head was transverse not allowing it to come down the rest of the way. The nurse suggested lying on my right side for 15 minutes, hands and knees 15 minutes, left side 15 minutes, and repeat to get baby’s head in correct position. So we started that. We worked through a few contractions on my right side with my left leg up during contractions (and counter pressure applied to my low back - I told you Richard and KayLee were getting a workout!). During one contraction in particular I felt Baby move, which you normally don't feel during a contraction, so I told the nurse after that one that Baby had moved and that it might have been the final change of position needed for coming down the rest of the way.

9:25pm - I changed to hands and knees position with Richard and KayLee applying counter pressure AND double hip squeeze, and was feeling A LOT more low pressure and an opening feeling. Baby had definitely moved down that last bit.

9:40pm - My body started involuntarily pushing with contractions. It was such a weird/amazing feeling to have my body do that without even trying! I had a couple more contractions like that (not trying to push but just letting my body do some work) and then moved onto my back/side into a semi-sitting position to push WITH my body. Dr. Nicholas was in the room hurrying to get ready and the nurses were preparing for birth! KayLee was right in my ear telling me to push or pant or blow during contractions (whatever needed to be done at the time) and Richard was encouraging me.

9:49pm - Baby was born! *What an incredible feeling of relief for that baby to be OUT!* I had already let everyone know that I wanted Richard to announce the sex of the baby but it seemed like a million years with no announcement so I said "What is it!?" to which he finally answered "It's a boy!" It was such a cool thing to find out from my amazing husband (rather than from an ultrasound tech) this time around. It being a boy confirmed my gut feeling (and what Ava had been saying since about 19 weeks) so I wasn't entirely surprised, but I also couldn't picture us with anything other than girls, so it took a little while to wrap my head around. Cade Milton Ezell was here!!!

   Cade Milton Ezell  --  8 lbs. 8 oz. 21 inches

By 10pm Cade was already nursing like a champ and enjoying lots of skin to skin snuggling. 

I felt so good (physically and emotionally) to have accomplished a natural birth and am so thankful to Richard, KayLee, Kyanna, and all the nurses for their encouragement and support. This labor was definitely different from my others in that I had to work to make contractions happen as well as work through the contractions, but I really enjoyed the whole experience and wouldn't change it for the world.

Katelyn brought Ava and Raina to the hospital to meet Cade a little while after he was born. Ava was excited and chatty. She wanted to see him and talk to everyone. Raina was excited and apprehensive. She wanted to look from afar and stay in the comfort of Katelyn's lap. :) 

Once I was settled in a recovery room, Richard went home to be with the girls for the night so it just Cade and me all night. He pretty much just nursed and slept, nursed and slept, so I got some good rest. Thanks be to God for this perfectly healthy little blessing!

If you live in the Fort Riley area and are considering a doula for your upcoming labor and delivery, we highly recommend KayLee. Check her out here: http://www.treasuredmomentsbirthservices.com