Mikayla Hope

She has arrived! She was born on April 10th at 10:42 am, weighed 8lbs 14oz, 18 1/2 inches long. This week has been an adjustment having four kids. I am so thankful my mom is here because I would not be able to do this on my own. She looks just like Kylie, but with dark hair! I could not believe all that hair, all my other girls have had blonde peach fuzz! So this was a treat to have one with hair and it be dark! The labor and delivery went well. Todd that morning was thinking I was doing the false labor thing- we have done that with the others, go to the hospital and then be sent home. But this morning something with the contractions felt different. But because I have been contracting for so long, I was still debating whether we should go or not. So I decided to call and we went in arrived at the hospital a little after 8 am, I was dilated 6cm and 90% effaced- Todd says, man I read you wrong this morning.

The midwife then broke my water, I jumped to 8cm, but stayed that for awhile. So she left to go over to their office which is right across the street and she said they will call me if you feel the urge to push. (she was on call at both places) Sure enough about 15 min later I felt the urge to push, but the nurse checked me and I was still 8 cm. Well then the contractions would not stop, no break in between, one right after the next, then I felt the urge to push , so the nurses got everything ready, kept calling my midwife telling her she is ready. Well, I was so focused on not pushing, just breathing, in a zone, I then hear Todd and the nurse saying stop breathing and push. Well apparently her head was already out and the cord was wrapped around her neck so she needed to come out, one more push and she was out! I went natural, which during those last 10min I thought why did I not get an epidural? The nurse then tells me your baby is the third baby I have ever delivered, I try not to do that, but she did great! I am so happy she is here and doing so well!

The girls absolutely love her, always running to wash their hands so they can hold her!

Here is all that hair!! I hope it stays!

Thank You!

Thank you to all of you who were praying last week! I thought on Friday she might be coming- it is the first time I fully packed up my bag- I got a weird feeling Friday night and the contractions were 5 min apart and getting a little more intense. So I just began to pray that they would stop and that I could fall asleep. And they did!!
I went to the doctor last Wednesday and the baby has slowed down in her movement, (maybe the lack of space!), but this concerned the midwife, so they did an ultrasound just to make sure my fluids were fine and her breathing etc. The ultra sound tech said she looks great. She was measuring 6lbs 14oz, I know that is not completely accurate, but thankful she wasn't measuring 8lbs like they kept telling me! I am getting very excited for her arrival- the girls are too! Will keep everyone posted! I have another doctors appt on Thursday, I will give an update after that, thanks again for your prayers!

Less than three weeks :)

Ok so here is an updated picture of my enormous belly! She is such an active baby- at times my belly looks totally deformed. I have less than three weeks left, Yeah!! They keep saying that I am going to have a baby over 8lbs, the midwife even offered to induce me at 39 weeks- I am going to pray about that one, so we shall see!:)

However please pray she does not come this week. Todd is out of town in Virginia until Sunday. I know that God is in control, so if it does happen it is for a reason. But as most of you know, I am very quick, so most likely he would miss the birth. I am dilated 1 1/2 and 50% effaced as of two weeks ago. They would not check me last week for fear that doing so might cause me to go into labor. Nor will they check me this week either. I actually am kind of glad, even though I would like to know if things have progressed, but that might cause stress, which in turn the birth of a little girl!:) So we are just taking it easy this week- I was going to play an April Fool's joke on my hubby if he was here, but not now that he is out of town. So if you think about it, please pray that she waits till next week!:)

Easter Sunday

Our Easter morning started off with the girls finding their Easter baskets. I love Ally's expression once she finds her basket!
Emme finding her basket and Kylie realizing she should have let Emme find her basket and not tell her where it was - "oops" is the look!!
Here are my girls- wish my other one was in the picture- soon soon!!

Don't know what Ally was doing with her hands- she kept putting them up like that?!
We had three families over from church, it was so fun! Left side- Todd, Sara, Aaron, Jimmy, Ben, Ally, Kylie, Emma- Right side, George, Chris, Heather, Mike, Charlie, Ethan, Maddy, Emme and Mea
The only difference in this one is I am in the picture.

The Easter Egg hunt- oh I see one on the window sill...

Kylie looking for eggs
Ally running for the eggs
We had a great day fellowship with friends from church and rejoicing that "He is Risen"!!

Day before Easter...

Ok so we get this flyer in the mail about the largest Easter egg hunt in our county that this church is putting on. The flyer said that there would be 50,000 eggs and every egg would have candy and they were giving away a Wii, nano, playstation, cash and a bunch of other prizes. Oh and the eggs they were dropping from a helicopter. Well that alone caught my attention and after driving to go and getting to the park I realized that everyone else in my county had the same thought...How do they drop 50,000 eggs and not break any.
Well they had already put 20,000 on the ground and were dropping 30,000. Well the majority of them broke! Or were stepped on by the thousands of people that were there. Ok so now I know and will never go to that hunt again. It was one of the most unorganized hunts I have ever seen. I think the problem was that they were not anticipating that many people. There were mom's crying b/c they told the parents they could not go out onto the field with their kids, well most did and the ones that did not lost their kids in the mad rush of people. I told the girls as they were complaining about only getting 6 or was it 4 eggs, that next year we will stick to the little church down the street that has an Easter egg hunt!
Ok so here is a shot of just 1/2 (no less than that) of the people and the helicopter approaching. Getting ready to drop the eggs...
dropping the eggs....
mad rush after the eggs were all dropped...my three girls running together with Jason B.- He and Katie came and met me there. I am so thankful they were there otherwise, I would have turned around and left. Crazy, crazy experience!!!

That night we dyed Easter eggs.
Ally was really loving it as you can tell by her face.

The finished eggs, oh and that row of white eggs were all the eggs that completely exploded while I was boiling them.

Monster Golf

Last night we went and played Monster Mini Golf. It is indoor and under black lights and everything glows in the dark. It was so much fun!!! This was one of the holes, I thought it was really cool with the swirl around it. All of the holes had a green glowing light in them.

Ally putting her golf ball in the crocodiles mouth.
This is Emme- didn't want to use my flash, sorry it is kind of hard to see her face.
I loved how the golf balls were glow in the dark and our clubs were too.

Here is Kylie showing me her golf ball. They had painted all the walls with all different kind of monsters etc with, well not sure what kind of paint you would use to make it glow in the dark.

All the borders of the courses were painted with colors that would glow in the dark.
The last hole was a little creepy- not a big fan of clowns, but you had to get the golf ball in the mouth to score a hole in one!
Ally posing with another alligator/crocodile. It was so much fun! Those who live near you have to go check it out. It was fun because it was so unique. They also have an arcade in the front part and most all of the games they have are crazy neon colors as well. They do have a website, b/c it is a chain. The web site is www.monsterminigolf.com check it out maybe there is one near you!

Look - No training wheels!!!!

Emme learned two weekends ago, after many scrapes, bruises and falls, to ride her bike with out training wheels. She needs a new bike now, the tires on that bike are a little too small!
YEAH Emme- I am so proud of you!!!!

Fun in the midst of a storm

Ok so I woke up this morning with the hope of going to two different Easter Egg hunts in the area. The sun was shining when I woke up, but then it got cloudy. So I turned on the radio to see what the weather was going to be like today. Well last night we heard some crazy thunderstorms pass through the area, then found out this morning that downtown Atlanta had some tornadoes touch down. Well there was another set of storms passing through the area again today. So while we were eating lunch as soon as we were almost finished, the sirens started sounding. So I flicked on the radio and turned on the computer in the basement and sure enough for about the last 3 1/2 hours we have had tornado and thunderstorm warnings. Just when we think the worst has passed the sirens go off again. So we have been hanging out in the basement today.
The rain was really coming down hard- it totally flooded the dogs pen and different areas in the yard. Well the girls were getting really bored downstairs so I put on some music and they were dancing like crazy! I love to watch them dance!

It almost looks like Emme may have been trying to do the running man?!
Here are Kylie and Emme doing the grapevine together!
As you can tell it was not "ballet music" they were listening to, but hip hop.

We are not in the clear until 7 tonight, that is when they are predicting everything will be past the area!

A funny Ally story...and prayer request

Today while I was teaching Emme school, Ally was coloring at the same table. We finished with her school and Emme says to Ally do you want to go and play dress up and she says "Me need to finish my Science first" (aka her coloring) I laughed so then she just kept repeating it. It was so cute! She is only 2 almost 3 and she copies everything her sisters do- including wanting to be a part of the homeschooling.

Well I am 34 weeks- if you think about it offer up a little prayer for me, I am very uncomfortable. Fourth time around just isn't the same. I am so thankful and want to be careful not to complain about how I am feeling. All this pain etc is so worth the end result, but in the midst of it, well it is hard to have a joyful heart. I would appreciate your prayers! Thanks!!

NGBB Todd 661lbs

Todd lifted in the APA Southern US Record Breakers in Douglasville, GA last weekend. Here is a video of his 300kg bench, that is 661 lbs!! This effort earned him First place, Best Lifter, and a Drugfree National Record. There is also a video of his opener at 633 lbs in the line of video's below. Enjoy!!

American Girl Party

Emme and I went to a birthday party at the American Girl Store and Bistro. It was so much fun! Billie took some cute pictures...her blog is http://ourchildrensstory.blogspot.com/ Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day

Well my hope was to post yesterday, but right after dinner my stomach was hurting then I had contractions for about an hour and a half. So I chilled on the couch. Well the girls and I made a cookie bouquet for Todd yesterday- it was so much fun to make! We took that and some balloons to his office- going there is a special treat for the girls.
I got my favorite- chocolates! A big Ghiradelli Heart full of chocolates!!! Yum Yum! And a very sweet card from my hubby!! Thank you- I love you TOO much Todd! The other day Todd told Ally he loved her and she said I love you daddy. He said how much do you love me and she said too much! It was so cute! We are going to the Cheescake Factory on Saturday night to celebrate Valentine's day! We made yummy calzones last night though- we have not made those in a long time they were very good! Here is Ally just being herself- she was walking around with heart stickers on her eyes!

Hope every one had a great Valentine's Day!!!

It has been awhile...

Ok- so it has been awhile since I have posted- not much is new around here. Most days consist of doing school, some laundry and dishes... and then laying down. I have been contracting a lot lately so to get them to stop I lay down and drink water. And so far, the longest I had them was four hours straight. I am 30 weeks today- yeah, I always feel like those last ten weeks (seems like a lot) but that they go by fast.
Well while I have been laying down, the girls like to watch movies- I got a shot of them watching a Barbie movie that has different parts in it that are 3d. How fun for them! And the latest movie we bought was Meet Me in St. Louis, with Judy Garland- so that is what we are all singing all the time. We don't have cable nor the lovely rabbit ears, so we watch lots of movies!