Kerith's First Couple of Days

Well, Monday and Tuesday, Eric's parents kept MJ and EM to give us a little break and some time alone with Kerith. So Wednesday was our first full day with all three little munchkins. It went well--I think we were very ready just to see them again and have them back home. And then today was my first day with all three by myself. Overall, not too bad. MJ and EM played most of the day, and I got a nap with Kerith when EM took his nap. I think Elijah is adjusting pretty well. He still tries to get me to pick him up, but he's kind of starting to get used to me telling him to hold my hand and walk with me :) I'll have help tomorrow though, and Eric will be here for the weekend, so I am thankful for that.

Here are some pictures of Kerith's first few days here. She has been the typical newborn so far--eats, sleeps, pees and poops :) I tried to get her to stay awake some today b/c she decided to wake pretty often last night--we'll see if it helps out any tonight :) I had her in the swing earlier, and Mikaela and Elijah were both sitting on the floor next to her trying to swing her way too hard and get her to talk to them :) Elijah's still not sure what to think. He did get pretty concerned yesterday when Jackie came over to prick Kerith's heel. She was crying pretty decently, and he came over to "see what he could do." :)

So where did the name Kerith come from? Well, in I Kings 17, the Lord commands Elijah to proclaim a drought and then tells him to hide by the Brook Cherith, and the ravens fed Elijah there. So we just changed the Ch to a K :)

Introducing...

Another sweet baby girl, Kerith Love Axelson! (pronounced care'-ith). This little sweetie decided she wanted to stay in Mommy 2 weeks longer than her sister and brother. So she was born today, March 23 at 7:56 am (her actual due date!). She came in at 8 lbs. 5 oz!! and was 20.5 inches long--so definitely my biggest baby thus far :)

So here's the story:
Kerith has actually been teasing me somewhat for about a month now. But around 3 this morning, I started having some fairly strong contractions anywhere from 7-10 minutes apart. I was somewhat monitoring them for about 2 hours--still trying not to get my hopes up b/c I'd been teased so many times already. Finally around 5, I was thinking these really could be the real thing, so I told Eric I was going to take a shower to see if they (the contractions) hung around or not. They did, so I decided to clean the bathroom just to make sure they were still coming. They did! So around 5:45, we called our midwife, Jackie. I had really strong, hard close-together contractions from around 6-7:30. Jackie arrived a couple of minutes after 7. Around 7:40 or so, I had a very strong contraction that broke my water, and it was all pushing from there! I had to push really hard off and on for 15-20 minutes, and my little munchkin finally popped out at 7:56! She was much harder to get out than her brother was, but I guess that's what happens when you weigh a solid pound and a half more! We'd prepared Mikaela for a few weeks now and asked if she wanted to watch the baby come out. So it was cool for her to have a front-row seat getting to watch her much longed-for sister come out. She wasn't really a fan of the mess or Mommy's grunting during pushing, and she asked where the baby's clothes were :) but overall, she was super excited to have the baby come today and that it was a sister.

My thoughts this time around:
1) I'm sooo thankful the Lord gave us another wonderful birth without any complications and a nice, pink healthy baby to go along with it.
2) Five-hour laboring HURTS as compared to the gradual day and a half laboring with EM. But this was good for me, as it helps to humble me. I would definitely still do it again, but I think I have a lot more compassion now for people who labor hard for a much longer period of time. I'm very grateful right now for only an hour and a half of really hard laboring.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience, but I'm very glad it's over and Kerith is out :) Sorry for the phone pics, but that's all I could muster up for today--I'm sure there will be many more within the next few days!

My Little Jumping Beans

Taking the cushions off the couch and jumping has become one of Mikaela's and Elijah's favorite pasttimes. I think Eric got more of a kick out of this one than anybody though :) Sorry--it's a little on the long side!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

So my little man sees Mikaela putting on some sort of shoes all the time--why can't he do the same? :)

Pet Food

So for the past few weeks, Mikaela has slowly pulled all the maroon trim from around this basket, torn it into small pieces and puts it in little containers as in these pics or into my muffin pan. Didn't you know it makes great food for all her "amimals?" :) I'm curious to see what their food will be in a day or two when all the maroon trim is gone :)

Little Man Update

Well, little man is officially 20-months-old now! Very soon, he will be a big brother, so we've been working hard on some training issues. The biggest thing is potty-training. We've actually been doing this since he was about 2 months, but we really hit it hard the past couple of months. So far, he has done really well. Most days he doesn't have any accidents, but other days, it's another story :) I haven't taken many pics the past month b/c he really does best when he doesn't have any bottoms on. Then he can just go sit on the potty when he knows he needs to go. I will eventually get around to putting underwear on him, but right now it just causes more frustration on my part. One--he can't pull them down by himself; two--he somehow thinks it's free reign to just go in his underwear :)

The other thing has been getting him to sleep in his "big boy" bed. This has been 10 times worse than potty-training b/c it deprives me and Eric both of our sleep :) But, we have made lots of progress. Normally, he'll go down pretty easily now (except for tonight :) ), but he still gets up 3-4 times during the night. The good thing is that now we can usually just put him back in bed and he'll sleep for a couple more hours. The bad thing is that we still get woken up every few hours to go put him back in bed :) I think we're definitely prepared for baby #3 :)

Elijah's vocabulary is growing steadily. He's not real clear on much, but I notice more and more that he really been trying to talk and communicate better! He copies pretty much anything Mikaela does from jumping on the couch to running around the house to cooking. He LOVES a show on PBS called "Word World" and would watch it the entire day if I would let him :) He asks multiple times during the day to watch it :)

He is so funny and cute but is also starting to display some unpleasant characteristics :( Mikaela really doesn't like it when he has to get a spanking and will start crying too. It's good to see she cares :)

I think he's going to make a great big brother. He loves to pull up my shirt, kiss the baby, and then pull my shirt back down :) Before long, you'll get to see pics of him holding his little sibling!

I Do!

Little man is starting to repeat more and more of what we say! Here's one of my favorites right now :)

Another Mikaela Funny

Ok--so I just couldn't put off writing about this. This morning we were eating breakfast, and MJ wanted to be a "princess." So, of course, that means she has to adorn herself with all her bracelets, necklaces, crown, etc. Well, she also had her phone in her purse and had it out. So here's the conversation that followed:

MJ: Mommy, where's your phone?

Me: Right here on the table.

MJ: Wif your toothpaste?

Me: Huh?

MJ: Wif your toothpaste.

Me: What?

MJ: Wif your toothpaste.

Me: I don't understand what you mean. With my toothpaste?

MJ: Yes!

Me: (thinking, thinking, ...lightbulb going off) Oh! You mean my bluetooth?!

MJ: Yes!

My Beautiful Prince & Silly Princess

Elijah adorned himself with with Sissy's gear one night after his bath--I know it'll make his daddy proud :) Mikaela said, "Mommy, he's a beautiful prince!" The other is Mikaela with a doll pillowcase being used as a nightcap :)

A Mikaela Funny/Not So Funny

So if you can't quite make out the pictures above, let me fill you in. Tonight, I was rocking Elijah for a few minutes before putting him down. I'd told Mikaela that I would rock her while we prayed and sang. She disappeared while I was rocking Elijah, and I heard her in the bathroom. I thought, "Good--she's going to the potty--I forgot to make her go--so glad she thought of that." Well, after putting her down, I had to go to the bathroom. I saw the inside of a roll of toilet paper on the counter and thought, "Good--Elijah will have a new one to play with now." I get another roll and am about to sit down, and I see what you see above--a whole, whole lot of tp in the toilet. I start thinking about it, and realize that Eric just gave me that roll last night before we went to bed. We weren't here for a good portion of the day today. So that means my little sweetiecakes pulled an almost entire jumbo roll of toilet paper off the roll and put it in the toilet!! Fortunately for her, she was already asleep b/c she definitely would have ended the night with a spanking. So I braved it and got some tongs and a couple of Walmart bags and dug all the paper out (and yes--I did try to flush it first b/c I thought maybe I'd get lucky and it would go down--I really despise digging things out of the toilet). Needless to say, at the rate my brain is going these days, I'll be lucky to remember tomorrow morning that she did that so that it can be dealt with :)

Washington DC

Well, for Christmas this year, we decided to come visit the Schiel family in Gaithersburg, Maryland! They are friends of ours from our church and are currently in MD going to Pastors' College. They only have 6 more months to be here, so we thought we'd take advantage of the opportunity to get to know them better, while also getting to visit DC at the same time :)

We left last Thursday morning at 5am and made it to Atlanta, Georgia (yes--we DROVE with two small children!! BUT, we got to bring another family's 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, with us as a surprise for the 13-year-old Schiel daughter, Danielle. This actually worked out well for all of us b/c Sarah and Danielle get to hang out, but we also have an extra hand to help out some with the kiddos! :) ). Then another family from our church has a sister (sister-in-law, aunt) who lives in Atlanta whose family was very gracious and fed us a meal and provided us with lodging for the night.

On Friday, we made the rest of the trek to Gaithersburg. Danielle was super surprised to get to see Sarah. It was something she'd been hoping for but had pretty much given up hope that it would actually happen :) On Saturday, we just took it easy and lounged around the house, resting and talking. Little man decided to start having a very loose cough :( On Sunday, we went to church, and later in the afternoon, the older girls, Shari and I went to the mall for a little while. Little man was feeling even worse, now also with a little fever :( Mikaela also started in on the loose coughing, but not with any fever. So on Monday, we decided not to go in to DC. Instead, Monday night, we went to a drive-through "Christmas in the Park," kind of like Santa's Wonderland in C.S. MJ slept through the whole thing; when we got home, I put her in her sleeping bag, and she said, "But we didn't get to go bye-bye yet!" Poor thing--didn't remember ever leaving the house :) Elijah at least woke up for a little bit of it.

On Tuesday, we went to DC and toured the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and to a castle (can't remember the exact name right now). Little man still didn't feel good, but we figured we could carry him around the house all day, or we could carry him around the museum all day--we chose the latter :)

On Wednesday, little man finally broke his fever and is now coughing MUCH less and is on the road to recovery, but unfortunately, he has passed on whatever he had to a few others :( For the most part though, Wednesday was just the beginning of it for everyone else, but there was a pretty high chance of rain, so we decided we didn't all want to be trekking around DC in the rain :) So we had another easy day and went and got some Webkinz, and then Eric and I went to a Christmas Eve production at the church--alone! (everyone else went Tuesday night).

So today, Eric and I decided to go see a lot of the memorials this morning so that we could see them before we leave. We took our kiddos and Sarah, but a couple of the Schiel kids weren't feeling well today. Poor Sarah really wasn't feeling well either, but she came along anyway, not knowing when she might ever get to see these things again :) We saw 7 memorials in all, and my brain is so fried right now that I'm not even going to attempt to name them all. I'll try to put all the names with the pictures later on. Upon returning, Shari had made a wonderful Christmas lunch/dinner. My one regret is not being able to help her cook and see the memorials at the same time :(

Tomorrow, our family, and whoever else feels well enough to go, is going to the natural science museum and to the natural history museum.

And I was going to post pictures tonight, but it's late, and I haven't gotten to label them yet, so you'll just have to wait for another post :)

Introducing...

Introducing (from top to bottom, left to right) Ariel, Obadiah, Pam (or Patricia), Mother, Dollar Jesus (or Amanda), a friend, another friend, Camille, another friend, Grandma, and Maffew. Eric and I were just cracking up! I've tried telling her over and over that Obadiah is a boy's name, but she just tells me, "No, Obadiah is a girl!" :) The best one was Dollar Jesus. I have no idea where she came up with that one. I asked her if she meant "daughter," but she said, "No, Dollar." Then the next day she changed Dollar Jesus' name to Amanda. I told her I wanted Dollar Jesus back and was told no that her name was Amanda. I insisted on Dollar Jesus, so she said, "Well, some days her name can be Dollar Jesus." :)

A convenient way to carry your dolls around if you don't want to use your hands :)

Church Picnic

On Saturday, we had our church picnic. I was a little worried as to what the weather was going to be like, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day! Mikaela enjoyed being around all her friends and jumping in the Moonwalk. And Elijah got to roam quite a bit, which he enjoyed. Needless to say, I was very tired at the end of the day b/c Eric stayed home since he still didn't feel so well. So I didn't get all the pictures I wanted :( But the food and company were good, and once again, the Shys and Mercedes did a wonderful job getting everything organized and set up!

80th Birthday Party

Last Friday was Eric's grandmother's 80th birthday, so her kiddos threw a little surprise party for her :) We had some yummy fish and desserts and had a good time celebrating with her!

Thanksgiving 2008

Well, sorry that once again, it's taken me so long to get up some posts, but here we go :) For Thanksgiving, we went to Dallas to visit Aunt Kelli and Uncle David. I think Mikaela had more fun than anyone! She made many more "best" friends and now includes them daily every time lists off all her friends :)

We actually spent Thanksgiving day at David's parents' house. It was a beautiful day outside, the food was awesome, and we all just really were able to relax and have a good time.

Then on Friday, Eric and I actually got up really early and got a tiny bit of shopping done--for ourselves :) And a little later on, Kelli's cousin Valerie and her two kids Savannah and Burke came in. Mikaela was loving every minute of it! And once Elijah warmed up to everyone, there was no shutting him up either :) He gets pretty funny and silly when he warms up, but before that, he's all business--no smiling--very serious :)

Here are some pictures to fill you in on what I missed. And somehow I managed to let Valerie and the kids leave without ever getting a picture of them!

Mommy, Take a Pee-chur

The past few day, every time Mikaela and Elijah are doing something together that she thinks is cute, she says, "Mommy, take a pee-chur of us." So here's what she's been getting little brother to do :)

Sunday Pics

About 3 Sundays ago, I took some pictures of the munchkins at before we left the house and at church. They didn't really want to cooperate :( Elijah wanted one of MJ's puppies, and she didn't want to share, so it was a little hard getting them to actually smile :) And it didn't take long before Elijah figured out how to rock himself on the rocking chair :) So much for still photos! :)

San Antonio

So, I've been a really bad blogger as of late :( There are just things that keep getting in the way of me blogging--like my C: drive being too full from all the math videos I did this summer so that I couldn't put any more pictures on my computer! I think I've finally fixed that problem :)

Anyway, two weeks ago, Eric and I were able to escape to San Antonio alone for my birthday. Some friends from church kept the kiddos for us. It was the first time we've done that, but they did great. And lots of thanks to Amanda for liking to play mommy! :) We had a very relaxing weekend, and it was nice to have some uninterrupted sleep for a couple of nights :) But we were definitely ready to get back to our sweet little munchkins!

Below are some pictures at the Riverwalk and at the Tower of the Americas (where we ate dinner one night). The top of the tower spins, so you get to see the whole view of San Antonio while you're eating. Enjoy :)

All Boy!

Birthday Party

On Monday, our friend Kendall had a first birthday party at Old MacDonald's Farm. Kendall had a cute little party with lots of yummy food--too bad all the bees are drawn to food :) I'd never even heard of the place, but it was the best thing for young children! There were a handful of animals to pet and feed, ponies to ride, a train to ride, lots of sand!, and lots of slides and fun little jungle-gym-type things to climb on. There were also plenty of picnic tables and a little concession stand. For summertime, there's even a swimming pool, and in October, there's a pumpkin patch. If you have young kids, it was really the perfect size. Mikaela and Elijah both wore themselves out :) We also asked our friends Melissa and Nathan to join us, so in all, Mikaela, Elijah and I ended up being there for 4 hours! We were the very last people to leave for the day! Elijah crashed pretty much as soon as we pulled out, and Mikaela followed soon after. Thanks Becca! We had so much fun!