Girls Like Dirt, Too!

There are a few women in my life (mothers of only boys) who have told me that my job as a mother is easy because I only have girls. Of course, this was before Will was born, and once they found out I was having a boy, it was a bunch of "You just wait!" comments.

Obviously, they have no idea what they're talking about. I could go on because I was actually a little insulted by those comments, but that's not the point of this post.

While my girls do have their moments of sitting quietly to read or color, they also enjoy (and prefer) running and playing and being loud. They went outside to play this afternoon and this is where and how I found them... Filthy dirty and happy to be that way!

Can you imagine what color their bath water is going to be tonight?!

Field Trip Time!

Well, once again, I've been away for a while.  But it's time for me to get back at this blogging thing.  I want to have more time for it and I'm hoping that will happen now that I have the Blogger app on my phone.  I will be able to post on the go.  The posts may be short and sweet with maybe a picture or two, but I think it should help me stay more caught up.  

Anyway, yesterday was a fun day.  Emma had her first field trip for the year and got to ride on a school bus for the first time.  It was quite an event for her.  She told me later that she was a little nervous when they first got on the bus, but she chose to ride the bus back to the school after the field trip instead of riding back to the school with me. So I guess she liked it.

Getting off the bus for the first time

This field trip was to a pumpkin patch put on by a church in town.  The children enjoyed making a craft, having snack, having several stories read to them, and riding on a hay ride.  The last activity was choosing a pumpkin and you would have thought it was the most special prize in all the world!  

I really enjoyed spending time with her class and putting faces with the names of all her little friends.  I also had to scope out the little boys in her class.  Emma seems to be quite popular with a few of the boys and has already had to fend off a couple of kisses!  I needed to know which little boys needed the stink eye from this mama.  haha!  

I am so thankful that I am able to attend her field trips.  She has quite of few this year and I'm looking forward to all the fun things we'll do together!

The Garden

So the last few years, I've tried my hand at gardening.  With not very good results.  

I think my gardening motto should be "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."  Because that's all I've been doing... trying again.  Two years ago was my first attempt.  The only success was a huge harvest of jalapenos (thanks to a very wet summer).  The mocking birds ate every tomato that turned the slightest shade of orange, the squash and zucchini rotted because of all the rain, and the eggplant were TERRIBLE.  Don't know what happened there, but they were just down right spit-them-out-of-your-mouth terrible!

Last year was the first summer in our new house, and we weren't sure where we wanted the garden yet, so I just stuck a few plants in the ground in a small space next to our fireplace.  The cucumbers grew but mostly they were too bitter to eat.  The watermelon didn't really do anything, and I can't remember what else we planted--that's how spectacular it was...

This year, we were on the ball.  Robby got some good dirt (since the builder filled our yard with sand) and created me a place to have a garden.  We got a rain barrel and put it in the garden so we could economically water our little plants.  I planted lettuce, basil, parsley, oregano, squash, broccoli, tomatoes, green beans, carrots, and a potato.  The potato was one that had sprouted in the pantry, so it was an experiment and I didn't put too much stock in it.  The rest were seeds or little plants.  

My only harvests this summer were some lettuce and basil.  I found out after I planted that broccoli is a cool weather plant and I should plant it this fall.  Why, oh why, does Lowes sell broccoli in the spring if it's too stinkin' hot down here to grow it??  Anyway, this is what happens when broccoli gets too hot:

The head stops getting bigger and all those little pods that we eat 

bloom into yellow flowers

The rest just fell apart.  Everything did great through the spring.  It was raining, but not too much, and the plants were growing.  Then came June and our 100+ degree weather and not much rain.  That was also the time I was 8.5 months pregnant and didn't spend much time outside.  Better luck next year, I guess!  

What I didn't know was that a surprise was in store for me.  Remember that watermelon I planted last year that didn't do anything?  Well, it came back.  All on it's own.  And it is FLOURISHING!  I have always loved watermelon, but I have been especially obsessed with it this summer.   

There were 7 melons on the vine, but I wasn't sure when to pick them.  They're personal size watermelons, so I didn't know how big they should be.  The biggest one quit getting bigger about a week ago, so today I picked my first melon.  I stuck it in the fridge and crossed my fingers--remember the cucumber?  A few hours later, it was time to cut it.

It tasted amazing!  Sweet all the way to the rind.  Needless to say, it didn't last long.  Between the girls and me, we had it finished off pretty quickly!  

So, if nothing else, at least I got a little watermelon this year.  I'll keep trying and tweaking things until I figure this out.  Hopefully one day I'll have a beautiful garden that yields lots of fruits and veggies.

Big Sister

Abby asked to feed Will this morning. She's doing pretty well, but has to be reminded to hold the bottle up and to leave it in his mouth. And not poke him in the eyes. And not crank his arms backwards. All the time being sweet, but also being 2!

One thing's for sure... Both of my girls love being a big sister! And for that, I am extremely thankful!!

A Haircut and Pre-K

OK, I have time for a quick post.  I've just finished uploading all the newest pictures from my camera and phone and I want to share about today's big event in the O'Dell household....

Pre-K started today!!!  Somehow my sweet baby Emma is now old enough to go to Pre-K.  She was excited for her first day, and Robby and I were, too, even if it's a little bittersweet.  She is going to the preschool at our church, which is just a morning program, and we couldn't be happier about her teacher!  We're looking forward to a great year.  (And just so you know, she is in Pre-K, NOT preschool.  I made the mistake of calling it preschool last night and she politely but quickly informed me that she is NOT going to preschool, she is going to Pre-K.)

Last week we got Emma's hair cut in preparation for a weekend at the beach--I know that might sound crazy, but her hair was so long and it's so thick, that the thought of washing sand out of it 4 or 5 times in one weekend was daunting!  She loves it and so do I!!  I should have done it at the beginning of the summer.

So, here are pictures of Emma before and after her haircut.  And also some from today on her first day of Pre-K.

 Before...

 ...and after!

 Her first day of Pre-K!

Life With Three...

...is BUSY!  

I WILL get back to blogging--hopefully soon.  

I've had lots I've wanted to blog about.  It's just been hard to find the time.  

Don't give up on me.  I will be back!

Six Days Early

DISCLAIMER: This isn't too graphic, but if you are uncomfortable reading the details of childbirth, this post is not for you.  Oh, and this is a very long post.  I'm trying to record everything I remember because I know that over time my memory will get a little fuzzy. 

Last Monday (June 27th), I spent the entire day wondering if I would go into labor.  Not much different from every other day for the previous couple of weeks, but there was one difference.  I was 39 weeks exactly.  And with both girls, I went into labor on that day.  Both times I went into labor in the evening, labored through the night, and they were both born the next day by lunchtime.  I spent the entire day wondering if history would repeat itself again, but also trying not to get my hopes up--I mean really, was that possible??  Robby was convinced we would see a repeat.  He sent me an email at one point during the day and said, "Let me know when your contractions start."  I had a few contractions through the day, but nothing different than I'd been having for several days.  And definitely nothing to write him an email about. 

Well, I had Bible study that night and he had praise band practice, so we ate supper at my parents house so they could keep the girls while we were gone.  That's our normal mode of operation for these Monday nights where our activities overlap.  But we decided to let the girls spend the night with my parents--just in case--instead of me picking them up before I headed home.  Liz told me to have my Bible study girls lay hands on my belly and pray and then push really hard to see if the baby would come out. :-)  While there was no laying on of hands, one of my sweet friends did pray for patience and peace that our sweet Will would come when the time was right. 

So home I went.  To Robby's dismay, I was not having any contractions.  The college world series was on, so Robby and I sat on the couch and he rubbed the pressure points on my feet that were supposed to induce contractions.  Nothing.  Finally at midnight we realized the only thing that was going to happen the next day was that both of us were going to be really tired because we'd stayed up way past our bedtime!  So to bed we went.

I got up around 5:15 to make one of my many nighttime bathroom trips.  After getting back in the bed, as I was dozing back to sleep I thought, "Well, I guess we made it through another night."  Ha ha!  About 5:30 I had a really strong contraction.  But it was very low and didn't feel like the contractions I'd had with the girls.  I didn't get up and within several minutes I'd had two more.  They were strong enough that I was having to control my breathing and that caught Robby's attention.  Whether I or his alarm had woken him up, I'm not sure, but when I told him I was having hard contractions, there was no hesitation for him.  He knew it was time to go to the hospital.  I told him I wanted to get up and move around and make sure this was it.  So while he was showering, I dressed and continued to have contractions.  Now mind you, we'd jumped the gun once, but we were also pretty antsy about getting to the hospital.  There were a couple of things that had me antsy (which is why we'd jumped the gun already): (1) My doctor told me he thought I was going to go pretty quickly once in labor, I was already 3 cm dilated at my appointment 5 days previous, and we live 40 minutes from the hospital--I didn't want to have the baby on I-16, (2) I was Group B Strep positive and needed antibiotics in me for at least 4 hours before the baby was born. 

Anyway, we got everything set and we're about to head out the door.  The contractions were coming every few minutes and right as we were about to leave, I had one that lasted a minute and a half.  It was time.  Or so I thought.  We got in the car and I didn't have a contraction for 9 & 1/2 minutes.  I thought I was going to go crazy.  Not that I wanted the pain of the contraction, but I was convinced I was imagining things.  I didn't want to get to the hospital and have a repeat of not really being in labor.  Being in labor is weird because you're heading to the hospital and you feel like you should be in constant pain, like if your arm was broken.  But between contractions you feel just as good as any day and then BAM! it hits you again.  It's the in between time where I thought I was making things up.  Robby had to keep telling me that I really was having contractions.  We had to run by my parents house to drop off my van since my daddy was staying with our girls for the day.  As soon as I got out of the car and started moving around, the contractions returned to their more frequent rhythm.  OK, good.  I wasn't imagining things! 

Emma was already awake when we got to my parents, so we kissed her little excited face, picked up my mama, and headed to the hospital.  We got settled in the triage room in Labor & Delivery and as I laid in the bed, my contractions went from being frequent to being sporadic.  In between the contractions, I felt like I was having menstrual cramps.  They weren't terrible but they didn't ease up either.  After about 30 minutes of monitoring me, the nurse came back to the room and told me that I wasn't having regular contractions and that I was experiencing an "irritable uterus."  I tried to be nice, but I promptly told her that I had been 3 cm the previous Thursday and I was NOT leaving.  (My OB told me at that appointment if I started having contractions again he wouldn't send me home, so that was the premise for my stubbornness, but the nurse wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy, and I wasn't putting up with her snottiness.)  As she prepared to check me, she told me that would be a decision my physician would have to make, which made me smile to myself because I knew what that decision would be.  But as it turned out, it was a moot point because when she checked me, I was almost 7 cm.  I said, "See, I'm not leaving!"  This was about 8:15.  She left the room right after checking me, and my mama reminded me that I needed to have the antibiotic ASAP, especially if I was progressing quickly.  Knowing from previous experience that the nurses like to leave you in triage for unreasonable amounts of time, I called my OB myself.  I told him what was going on, to which he replied, "Oh, wow!  I'll call them right now, and I'll be there soon to check on you."  We were moved to a room pretty quickly after that. 

Once we got settled in the room and the antibiotics were all hooked up, things slowed down for a bit.  They were planning to start me on pitocin to get my uterus acting right but we had to wait until I'd had enough IV fluids.  Once I'd been pumped full, they started an epidural and then the pitocin.  That got my contractions really going.  I had an epidural with both of my girls, and they were wonderful!  However, with Abby I was so numb that I started getting anxious about it, so I asked the anesthesiologist to give me a lower dose this time.  I think this one was just about perfect.  I never lost complete control over my legs or my ability to shift myself in the bed.  And while I did feel a little pain from a few of the contractions, it was minimal and mostly just pressure.  

OK, so moving on.  When I talked with my OB on the phone in triage, he said he would be in SOON.  What I've learned after three babies is that SOON is relative.  And SOON to me is never the same as SOON to the nurses and doctors.  SOON for my OB was his lunch hour, almost 4 hours after I talked to him.  I'm sure he was in contact with my L&D nurse, but he didn't come in to see me until right at noon, which was fine because there really was no need.  Anyway, so he comes in and says he's going to check my progress and then break my water to get things going even more.  But when he checked me, he said I was complete and ready to push!  YAY!  He told me at my last appointment that the Group B Strep was only a risk to the baby after my water was broken, so the fact that it was time to push and my water was still intact was a good thing--less time, less risk!

The nurses got everything set up and at 12:08 I started pushing.  During the time while we were just sitting and waiting, we realized that Emma had been born at 12:03 and Abby had been born at 10:23.  Since we were sticking with the tradition of having the baby 6 days early, we laughed about having him at a time that ended in 3.  So right before I started pushing, we jokingly asked my OB if we could have him out by 12:23.  Well, we didn't make it that far.  After just 12 minutes and 3 contractions, William Franklin O'Dell was born at 12:20.  We had a rough little moment right at the end because his right shoulder got stuck under my pelvic bone and the nurse had to push down on my stomach to get him through.  But other than that he came right on out.  

He did have the cord wrapped around his neck and he got quite a beating on the way out, so his head was very purple when I saw him the first time.  But he cried immediately and was thrashing around, so I wasn't too concerned.  After spending a couple of minutes with me, the nurse took him over to the warmer to check him out.  My big boy weighed in at 8 lb, 8 oz.  One of the reasons his face ended up being purple was because he was so big and had to fight with the birth canal to get out.  Within 36 hours, his color was back to normal, though.  

He checked out perfectly by the nurses right after his birth and by the pediatrician the next morning.  We are so very blessed and thankful to have another healthy addition to our family.  The girls are in love with their little brother and Robby & I are pretty smitten with him, too.  

June

This month has been a lot of fun!  With Emma being out of school and the baby's close arrival, I've been trying to enjoy this last bit of time with just my girls.  We started the month off with VBS, which was a blast.  Emma really got into it this year, and we're still listening to the songs in the car.  Our theme was Big Apple Adventure, so everything was patriotic and centered around NYC.

 Robby and I find this picture very funny.

Even though our weather has been setting record-breaking HOT temperatures (100+!) we've played outside a lot, as well as taken a few "field trips."  Three theaters in our area show kids movies a couple mornings a week for only $1.  Last week we went to see Barnyard.  This was Abby's first experience in a movie theater and she was mesmerized.  She sat in the chair and just stared in amazement at the huge screen.  She never ate a single piece of popcorn, although she held one in her hand for half the movie.  I finally had to put her in my lap, though, because she slowly slid to the back of her seat and her feet weren't heavy enough to keep the front of the seat from folding up.   After the movie, we met my brother David at the mall for lunch.

This week we went went blackberry and blueberry picking.  Abby ate her weight in both while we melted in the heat!  It was so hot that my brain didn't have enough energy to remember to take pictures.  But I'm sure we'll be back before berry season is over.

Here's a picture recap of what we've done this month:

 We visited a friend's grandmother's farm and the girls picked corn.

 

 We walked to the park on our street one morning and then played in the sprinkler fully clothed.  There was too much sand, sweat, and grime to worry about changing into bathing suits!

 The girls "helped" Robby create a new flower bed in our yard.

Emma was filling the wheelbarrow with sod and Abby was saying, "Push, push!"

 Sweet, dirty face

 More getting wet fully clothed--working in the yard makes you hot and dirty!

 Abby got brave in the baby pool and actually took her feet off the bottom and floated.  

This was a big step for her! 

 Robby and his big girl on Father's Day!

 Father's Day supper at the Japanese steak house.  Yum!!

It's Almost Time!

Somehow the last three weeks since we've been home from vacation have flown by and dragged on at the same time.  How that's possible, I'm not sure.  I am so excited and ready to meet our new baby that looking ahead they seem slow.  But when I look back, they've gone by so quickly.  

On Monday I will be 38 weeks pregnant!  While I feel like I've been pregnant for a year, the end is definitely in sight.  With my other two, while I was ready for the pregnancy to end, it was only out of pure excitement and desire to meet our baby.  I wasn't miserable or unhappy being pregnant.  This time, I'm pretty much over the whole pregnancy thing.  From the very beginning this pregnancy has been a different ballgame than when I was pregnant with the girls, and these last few weeks have not deviated from that!  I still love being pregnant, and definitely hope the Lord allows me to be again, but I am ready for this particular pregnancy to be over.  I think the fact that the weather is setting record highs right now doesn't help any of the regular pregnancy symptoms I'm experiencing.

But enough with my grumbling.  On Thursday, I had a regular appointment and I also had an ultrasound to check the size of the monster growing inside me.  Remember we were told 5 weeks ago that he could be a 10 pounder??  Well, praise the Lord, he is NOT going to be that big!  On Thursday he was measuring at 6 pounds, 11 ounces.  He had only gained 2 pounds in the last 5 weeks, which is absolutely fine!  So now that the relief of a HUGE baby has passed, I'm ready to welcome his delivery.  He is also still head down, and so low that the tech could only see his mouth and chin.  Sounds like he's ready to welcome his delivery, too! :-)  My doctor was out of town this week (he comes home today, thankfully!) so I saw our nurse practitioner, who is wonderful.  She told me she thinks I'll be having him soon.  She made my appointment for next Thursday but said she would be surprised if I actually make it that far.  SO, without getting my hopes up too high (wait, I don't think that's possible), I'm looking forward to meeting our little man very soon!

We will definitely be posting (via Facebook first) with updates and pictures, so stay tuned........

Catching Up... Again

So before we went on vacation, I thought I had neglected my blog.  Now it's been a month, and I haven't posted a single thing.  I guess I should try to catch up before our little man comes because I know it's only going to be harder to stay on top of things once he gets here.

I've been pretty exhausted every day, and my brain just hasn't had the energy to come up with a good blog post.  So I'll just recap the last month.

The week leading up to Memorial Day weekend we spent at Myrtle Beach with Robby's family.  It was a nice vacation and we were able to relax--as much as you can with a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old! :-)  Our 1-year-old became a 2-year-old at the beginning of the week, and we had a really good time celebrating her birthday.  We took the girls to a local zoo and they loved seeing and feeding the animals.  The rest of the week was spent back and forth between the beach and the pool at our condo.  Emma had no problem adjusting to the pool this year.  She's been a little hesitant the last two summers, so I wasn't sure how long it would take her to warm up this year.  But she's a little fish now and has a blast jumping off the side.  Abby, our never-hesitant-about-anything child, is not sure she's cool with the pool yet.  But we've been working on her, and she's getting there. 

I'll leave you with some of my favorite pictures from that week.

 

"The Little Girl With A Curl"

There was a little girl who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead;
When she was good, she was very, very good,
And when she was bad she was horrid.

I love this nursery rhyme.  It very appropriately describes this child:

 Don't let these faces deceive you.  

She was very happy at the moment, the sun was just bright!

Every time that curl lands in the middle of her forehead, I think of the nursery rhyme.  This little girl lights up our world.  She is sweet and loving.  And very entertaining!  She has brought much joy and laughter into our home.

However, she is a feisty little thing!  As she has approached her second birthday (which is only 3 days away!), she has given us a new definition of the "terrible twos."  She's a new experience.  Emma definitely presented her own challenges at this age--Abby's just presenting hers in a whole new way.  

BUT, the good is SO good, that I will take the bad that comes with it.  And pray the Lord helps me mold that strong, determined personality into one that will honor Him as she grows.  Oh, how I love this little girl!  And I am daily thankful for the blessing my children are!

Bittersweet Moments

We are leaving for vacation with Robby's family this coming Saturday.  Because of that, Emma is missing her last day of preschool and the end-of-the-year program, which are both next Tuesday.  I was not looking forward to missing the end of her 3K year.  But I kept telling myself, "It'll be fine, it's just preschool," hoping I would actually believe it.  

A few weeks ago, I realized her class was practicing for the program almost every day.  So I spoke with the preschool director, and she graciously allowed me to come this morning to watch their last practice.  Emma gets a little timid when she's on stage, so even with me, my mama, and my sister being the only audience members, it took her a little while to warm up.  But she finally joined in with the rest of the children and sang, did the pledges, and quoted her memory verses.   

Last year at this time, I really debated whether or not to send Emma to 3-year-old preschool.  I didn't want to send her just because that seems to be the thing to do now.  What finally made my decision was (1) it was only 3 hours, 2 mornings a week and (2) I knew I could pull her out if it wasn't working.  Well, she LOVED every second of it.  And that timid personality I mentioned--this year did wonders for that!  She has thrived in preschool!  I think she's in denial that she doesn't get to go to school this summer! :-)

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone.  My sweet little girl has finished her first year of "school."  Wow!  I can only imagine how fast the next 14  years are going to go, and I know when I sit at her high school graduation it'll feel like I wrote this post only yesterday.  How is it that our children make time go so much faster???

I'll finish with a few pictures.   

 First Day of School, back in August

 

Last Day of School, on stage with her classmates

This is the face she gets when she's uncomfortable

But she perked up and join in the singing

Seven Years

Today is mine and Robby's 7th Anniversary.  It's hard to believe how quickly the last 7 years have gone!  Our lives have changed quite a bit since May 15, 2004.  I'm looking forward what what the next 7 years will bring.

Every day I am thankful that God brought us together.

Happy Anniversary, Robby O'Dell!!

The Last Two Weeks

May is already half way over, and I don't know where it's gone!  I cannot believe how fast the last two weeks have flown.  We have this week coming up, when Emma finishes her first year of preschool, and the next week, when we will be on vacation.  Then it's June -- holy cow!  

We've had a lot going on this month, and I've gotten a little behind on my posting.  So let's see...

We moved Abby to her new room and her new bed in preparation for the baby's arrival.  We wanted her to be well settled before he gets here.  It took her a few days, but overall she's done very well.  

Her first night, FINALLY asleep!

One of her first nap times was spent unloading the clothes in her dresser.

After falling out 2 of the first 4 nights, we completely blocked her in.  She's done much better since we added the second two rails (yes, the one at the foot of the bed is necessary--she fell off the end the second time!).  We're wondering if it makes her feel more like being in her crib?

Mother's Day felt like it slipped up on my this year.  We had a nice weekend at home, and my girls and Robby gave me a gift certificate for a prenatal massage.  I'm definitely looking forward to that!!!

Next, this past Thursday, I had another ultrasound to check the position of our little man.  And Praise the Lord, he is head down!!!  He is still healthy and growing rapidly!  He is almost 5 lbs, and the ultrasound tech said he could double his weight between now and the end.  My only thought was, "Say WHAT?!"  She actually used the words "ten pounds."  I'm hoping and praying she has overestimated.  After 6.5 and 7 lb babies, I can't imagine having one that big!  We'll see, I guess...

Finally this weekend, my sister and mama hosted a baby shower for me.  There isn't a whole lot I need this time around, but there were a few things.  The shower was very nice and we had a great group of ladies join us.  My extremely talented sister painted the letters of Will's name to match the bedding.  It's finally sinking in that we're having a boy.

 No more pink gingham!

Many thanks to my amazing sis!

Not quite finished, but at least it's on it's way to looking like a boy room.

I think that hits the the major details of the last two weeks.  I may have to do another two week post once we get home from vacation.  We'll see how this week goes...