Funny!

You just might want to check these out.





Thanks to my dad for sending them to me!

Instead of twitter I'll post it here.

I seriously never want to put my baby down. It makes living life a bit difficult. (But I don't care.)

Ruffly Goodness

ruffle hat

I'm loving being crafty! I seriously get giddy looking at craft blogs and finding new ideas. (Although, my skill level doesn't exactly match up to my inspiration. haha)

Really though, it's so much fun being able to do something that I enjoy. At our "old church" (yes, it does need to be in quotes) we weren't encouraged to do anything that didn't fit into the vision of the church (which, is basically to get new people). So, I feel so much freedom and it's so FUN to do something just because I like it. But, I also think it pleases God. I find it interesting that so many of the women that have crafty/sewing/etc blogs are Christians. I read on one blog (I forget which one, sorry!) that God is creative and He created us in His image- to be creative! How true is that!

With that being said, much of my time is not spent sewing or creating. Most of my time is spent being mama, which is my preference anyway. (This blog is being written one-handed while holding Finley. Might as well multi-task, right?) I'm lucky to get 10 minutes every few days to sew. It takes awhile to finish a project, but that's ok. I enjoy the results even more that way.

I'm loving ruffles thanks to Ruffles and Stuff and Made by Lex. I seriously want to make Finley an entire wardrobe of ruffly clothes. (Which, by the way, that girl already has quite the impressive, adorable wardrobe thanks to lots of people who love her!)


r pillow for the skunkboy craft swap


nursing cover

Mail Swap

weheartit.com

Did you ever have a penpal? I remember as a kid getting one from Brio Magazine (did anyone else subscribe to Brio?). Then, in junior high one of my good friends moved across the country and we wrote back and forth pretty regularly for a few years. I loved getting letters from her.

Recently I participated in a craft swap on skunkboy's blog (more on that later) and saw how excited Judah was about sending the package out. The only mail Judah and Samuel get is their High Five magazine (which they love!), but they ask everyday when the mail comes, "is there something for me?"

I know they would love to get a letter or postcard from someone in another part of the country. Is anyone else interested in doing a mail swap with their kiddo(s)? (And, if you're a homeschooling mom like me this totally counts as geography, right?)

Breaking Her In

I got this little beauty for Christmas. I've been wanting a Kitchenaid for a long time and my grandparents got me one from Costco. I've been excited to use it, but busy with Finley (aka our little bundle of love).

What should I make with it first? Care to share a favorite recipe?

A little blogkeeping

We have a winner for the little contest. NancyinCA, who is an amazing wife and mom and lady in general and I have known since 7th grade! Second place was my mom and third was my grandma (although, I had to enter the info for my grandma. She doesn't read my blog because she says the words are too small!)

We finally finished our birth announcements! I would love to send you one. If you're not sure if I have your address, then I probably don't. I am horrible at losing them, but I bought an address book to change that. So, whether I've had it in the past or not it's probably safest just to email it to me! (morganf7(at)yahoo(dot)com)

So, what have we been up to?


We've been busy adjusting to life with and enjoying our baby girl. She's such a good, sweet baby and her brothers still adore her.
(Beanie made by Jenna)


We celebrated Eric's 30th birthday.


Silas got his first haircut.


Judah and Samuel visited San Francisco and their Aunt Kim with Eric's parents. They went to the Exploratorium and to see Cirque de Soliel and other fun stuff.

While they were gone a big storm came. our power went out, and thank goodness for my in-laws' house where we spent the night. (And, enjoyed watching their tv after three phone calls to figure the satellite out.)

30

Happy Birthday to my favorite person. What a blessing it is to share my life with you. I could not ask for a better husband and papa for our kids. I love you.

In a Name

Jessi and Diane asked about Finley's name, which I meant to post about, but forgot. Thanks for the reminder!

The meaning or significance in a name is just as important to us as how much we like it. We wouldn't want to choose a name that is pretty, but means "bitter."

Finley is a name that we considered when I was pregnant with Silas. Besides the fact that we think it's beautiful, we love that it means "fair warrior." The fair part is neat with our last name and the words fair and warrior signify beauty and strength. She's our gorgeous, lovely, sweet, fragile little princess, but at the same time we pray she grows up to be strong in the Lord. A prayer warrior who loves God and relies on and finds all things in Him.

Grace was my great grandma's name. We pray God's favor and grace over Finley all the days of her life!

Sewing!

About a month ago Jenna gave me a mini sewing lesson. Having a baby was a bit of a distraction to the sewing (a very welcome one!), but I've finally finished the pillow case and last night I made a baby blanket. I've been searching the web for ideas and can't wait to make my next project. I, obviously, haven't been going out much, so I'll be stocking up on fabric at my next trip to the fabric store.

The pillow


The pillow on the couch


The blanket (and the cute baby)

Finley Grace's Birth Story

At one of my first midwife appointments I talked with my midwife, Cheryl (who I adore!) about being "primaried" by her, which means I'd have all of my appointments with her and she'd be the one to induce and deliver my baby. This is what she did with both Judah and Silas and it worked well.

Well, as it got closer and closer to my tentative induction day my body wasn't doing what it had done in the past. I was only dilated about 2 cm, where as I'd been 4 before. I wasn't sure that my body was ready to have a baby. Cheryl said that I could come in that morning and she'd check me. If I was ready we'd go ahead with the induction and, if not, then I'd have another appointment in a week.

I wanted to be induced for two reasons: one, I was excited to meet my baby and, two, I was pretty sure that I would have the baby on my own before the next week and I might not get lucky this time and make it to the hospital. :)

So, our appointment was at 8:45 am Monday morning. We dropped the boys off at my in laws at 8:15 and headed up the hill. When Cheryl checked me I was 3-4 cm dilated and 90% effaced. She said that there was a lot of progress since my last appointment the week before and thought my body was ready. She called the hospital and they said I should call back at noon to make sure they had room for me.

After the appointment Eric and I headed back down the hill. We read for awhile at Barnes and Noble, picked up from snacks from the grocery store next door, and walked around the parking lot (in hopes for more progress) and browsed World Market. While we were at Barnes and Noble we called my in laws to tell them what we were doing. Judah asked to talk to Eric and said, "Is it a boy or a girl?" Eric said, "We haven't had the baby yet." And, Judah answered, "If it's a boy name him Joshua and if it's a girl name her Sophia."

We then tried to go to lunch at Sierra Nevada (we ate lunch there the day Silas was born), but it's closed on Mondays. So, we headed to our other favorite restaurant, Sin of Cortez. The midwife didn't tell us the full hospital number, but only the number using letters and I couldn't figure it out on the cell phone. Eric ended up having to ask a worker if he could look up the numbers, so we could call the hospital.

We were finally able to get through and they told us to come on up. When we got there (at about 1:30) I had to be monitored for an hour. The baby looked great and my heart rate/blood pressure/etc looked good, too. They told us to go walking for a half hour and they would put the cytotec (which ripens your cervix) in around 3. We, literally, hiked up a hill to a nursing home behind the hospital and all around the property and came back at 3. There was a delay with the cytotec (the one they sent was expired), so they put it in at 3:30.

You can't have cytotec in your system and have a waterbirth, so they had to wait until 7:30 to break my water. For the next 4 hours Eric and I ate snacks and watched tv. It was a little like being in a hotel. We don't have cable (or any channels) at home, so Eric had fun watching some random action movies (I think). I was too preoccupied to do anything except thing about our baby. I was also getting more nervous about the delivery!

Cheryl ended up breaking my water at about 7:10. It didn't take long for my contractions to get more regular and stronger (every 3 minutes, lasting for about a minute), but they weren't painful. Cheryl had me sit on a labor ball, but I wasn't sure what the point was because I wasn't in pain. For some reason, I felt pressured to have a super fast delivery. I thought that pacing around the room would help, so I did that while Eric and Cheryl talked about training dogs and midwifery. Cheryl commented on how fast I was walking and I said maybe it would make things go faster.

A little after 8:30 the contractions did start to get painful, so I got in the tub. As they were filling it up the door started leaking, so Eric, Cheryl, and the nurse were all focused on fixing that.

Earlier, when the nurse was first setting up the birthing tub she was having some trouble with the motor. Randomly, Eric owns the exact same motor and has it in our garage. He had bought it from one of his pool customers when the guy didn't need it for his pool. So, Eric was able to help set up the birthing tub!

After a few minutes I told Cheryl that I thought I needed to push. She said if I felt like it, then to go ahead. About this time I started to have a mini-freak out and I told her that I wanted her to check me to make sure I was ready. She did and I was.

I was sitting on the floor of the tub, which made pushing awkward. During my first push I arched my back. After that I sat up in the seat, put my feet in the foot rest things, and was able to lean forward "chin down" (as Cheryl said) and push again. After three pushes our baby was born (first half of her head, second the rest of her head, and third her shoulders and body).

As I held her either Cheryl or the nurse (I can't remember who) said, "What is it?" Eric lifted up the umbilical cord and said, "It's a girl." I just laughed and laughed with so much joy. The perfect addition to our family!

Finley Grace was born on December 28, 2009 at 8:51 pm. 7 lbs, 13 oz, 20 inches.

Eric held her while Cheryl and the nurse (Mary Ann) helped get me out of the tub and cleaned up. Then Eric handed her to me and I was able to hold and nurse her right away. Such a perfect little baby girl!





If you're interested:
Judah's Birth Story
Samuel's Birth Story
Silas' Birth Story

I Remember This

I've had a lot of time lately to read blogs and (my personal favorite) check out all the girls clothes online, but I haven't been doing much of anything that requires two hands. Most of my time is spent nursing and/or holding my baby girl. And, I love it!



Finley is such a good, sweet, adorable, happy, perfect baby girl! I'm still in shock that I have a GIRL! We're all getting used to saying "she" and "her" and catch ourselves saying "he" and "him." Whoops! Her big brothers are in love with her and I'm sure the feeling is already mutual, despite all of the rough love they give. She's such a trooper and usually doesn't even flich with their touches, hugs, kisses, and loud "new baby!" in her ear.



Finley did have jaundice, like her brothers, which required three trips to the hospital to have blood drawn. Not fun! She's fine now and we don't have to go anymore. I wasn't worried about it and the trips to the lab are such a hassle. I'm just glad to be done with that.



On the way over to the hospital the second time I got a call from Eric saying he, his mom, and Silas were on their way to the er. Silas had fallen and cut his head on a flower pot. The cut required two layers of stitches and he even had to be sedated. I took Finley home (out of the germy er) and Eric and his mom stayed with Silas. He is fine now and gets his stitches out today. I'm pretty sure the whole ordeal was worse for us than it was for him.



The transition from 3 to 4 kids has been really easy so far. I think that is mostly because I've had lots of help from Eric, my mother in law, and my mom and because I've had a really easy recovery from childbirth. Finley fits right into our family. I was thinking last night that it doesn't feel like we have "a lot of kids" or a "big family." Each of the kids are just their own people, with their own personalities, and I can't imagine life without them.