Mothers Day

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I realize I have disappeared.  So I have a bunch to catch up on.  So first off I am trying something new. For mothers day I received a new camera (Wahoo!!!!)  I can take video with this camera so I am going to try and share some video with you.  This is the first one I took of my cute girls dancing away on mothers day.  Hopefully it works and then I will add more.

A late St Patty's day post

So life has been busy with 4 kids and I haven't gotten around to posting about St. Patricks day until now.  But we did celebrate and we had fun.  The night before the girls and I painted some rainbows and made a leprechaun trap.

 Sadly we did not catch one but he left us some gold chocolate and a box of lucky charms.

 We had to rush out the door that morning so I didn't get pictures of the girls wearing green, but Erin was the green police and wouldn't let us leave without everyone in green.

Then for dinner that night I made St. Patty's day soup (spinach soup) and for dessert rainbows.  The girls loved it.

Till next time...

Precious Time

The past 3 weeks have been some of the longest and fastest 3 weeks ever.  But they have taught me how precious time is and how important family is. Since my last two posts have been big events I will update both of those now.

First baby Van hit 2 weeks old yesterday.  What a fun precious two weeks it has been.  His little boy spirit is certainly different than the 3 girls.  But he has certainly been a joy. 
At his 2 week check up he was his birth weight exactly 7.15lbs.  He is also 1 inch longer now 20 1/2 inches. His head size and wieght are at 50% and his height is 75%. So at the moment his is tall.  Other than that he is the spitting image of his dad.  The faces he makes are so James that they make me laugh. I really could just sit and watch Van make faces all day long they are so cute and funny.
Each baby I have teaches me more about how precious they are as a baby.  I really just want to treasure every moment.  Every cute face, every baby squeak, the smell of sweet baby breath and the way they feel when you hold them: like a piece of heaven.  Yes every moment spent with that baby is a little treasure.
One quick cute story.  On Sunday we went to my parents for family dinner. When it was time to go James was quicker than I was and had the 3 girls buckled and waiting for me and Van to come out.  After a moment of sitting and waiting Kaylee got very concerned and stared pointing to where baby Van should be saying "uh oh, uh, oh."  With increasing urgency.  She sure does like him, which brings me great relief.

Now some updates about my dad.  So the tumors in his brain are malignant.  So he has cancer again.  This is really not good news.   But on the good side every doctor is amazed at how well my dad is doing.  He is a fighter and is strong and that bodes very well.  Next Monday they will start radiation on his whole brain.  They will do this for 3 weeks in hopes that it will kill any cancer seeds/tumors they have not seen.  After that they will do a more focused radiation on the tumor that we know is there.  He is able to go to work as long as he wants to, and he is going more than I would:).  He really is amazing.

So yes time and family are so  precious and important.  

James Van Hurst III

Yep he's here.  He is happy and handsome and healhty too.  We have decided to call him Van. 

Here is his story:
Last Friday night by the time I left the hospital with my dad (read my last post for details on that) I was having contractions 2 minutes apart.  I was pretty certain it was just my body being exhausted and stressed but we decided to go over to the hospital in which I deliver to be checked out.  After laying there for 2 hrs my body relaxed and calmed down and contractions were 8-9 minutes apart so we went home.  At that time I was dialated at a 3.
I was very glad he didn't come that weekend so I could spend the weekend with my dad and family.  My dad was released from the hospital Tuesday morning.  Now the baby could come.  All day Tuesday I kept having little signs that could be early labor signs and I questioned if my water had broken and was leaking a little bit.  By later that afternoon the signs were stronger, so I layed down for 15 min to see if my water had broken.  When I stood up there was a significant amount of leakage.  I decided to test one more time to be sure and I had the same result.  So I was pretty sure my water had broken so off to the hospital we went.  We got there and I was still at a 3 and not having regular contractions.  So they tested to see if my water had broken.  They told me the test was negative and sent me back home.  I am still in a but of shock.  I can't believe that my bladder had that much liquid in it.  Oh well I guess I lost some dignity.
Well Wednesday morning I was scheduled to be induced so in we went.  When we checked in I was dialated at a 4 1/2.  They broke my water for real (about 9:30) and my Dr mentioned that my sack was double layered so I wonder....  James and I walked around for awhile and I was having contractions about 5 min apart.  By about 12:00 I was dialated to a 5 but my contractions were still only 5 min apart.  I must admit it hadn't been that long since we started but with the week I had had, I was worn out.  So we decided to try and speed things up with pitocin.  Okay now contractions were coming rather hard and fast.  They were getting more intense with each one and I was really about to wear out.  At 2:30 I felt like I was in transition so they checked me again and I was at a 6.  I cried.  I asked for an epidural and fast please.  I got the epidural and it was fast.  They checked me again and I was at a 9 1/2.  Oh I guess I was in transition...  Oh well the edge of the pain had been taken off although the epidural hadn't fully set in.  Baby's heart rate was getting a little concerning so it was time to push and get him out.  They had me pushing non stop.  Not just with contractions because they were concerned about him.  Then they yelled at me to stop pushing.  I looked in the mirror and saw why.  The cord was wrapped around his neck twice.  Yeah I stopped pushing.  They quickly unwrapped it and then yelled at me to push again.  Two more pushes and he was out.  He looked a little blue.  He wasn't crying. but after a few seconds of rubbing his back he started to cry.  What a relief that was.  James cut the cord and they took him to clean him up etc.  His apgar was 8-9 so he was perfectly fine and healthy.  He just gave us a little scare.  He was born at 3:11.  He weighed 7 lb 15oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.
Recovery has been going very well and he has been perfect and healthy.  I have a little cold but I am doing what I can to knock it out quick.
The girls love him and I can't get Kaylee to leave  him alone.  She adores him.  She just wants to pat and kiss and hold him. 
Here are a bunch of pictures.

1st bath:

  He just peed all over dad.  Hehe

The girls visiting baby brother:

As you can tell Kaylee would not leave him alone.

Baby Van relaxing:

 Grandpa visiting Baby Van.  These two could hardly wait to meet each other.