SnapJack Photography

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In June, we hired Jackie of SnapJack Photography to take pictures of our family. Specifically we wanted newborn pictures of Helena. Well, Helena was a stinker butt and cried pretty much the entire time although Jackie managed to get a few pictures of her. She did get a ton of great pictures of the big girls! She does great work. Ya'll should check her out if you are in Mankato, MN. 

Helena's Birth Story

It's been a while since I've blogged... Mostly because of this cutie pie, Miss Helena Renee.

After a long and trying pregnancy, Helena was born on May 21st. Here is her story:

I woke up at 4 AM, on Sunday, May 20^th with contractions that were relatively close together (6-10 minutes). They continued for a few hours then spaced out again. I spent most of the day resting and taking short naps. I would be woken up about every 20-30 minutes with contractions, but I still got some nice rest. (Thank goodness it was the weekend so Philip could be with the girls.) Around dinnertime they started to pick up, but nothing I could not handle easily. We called my mom around 8 PM and asked her to head to our house. (She lives an hour away.) We told her it was no rush. I assumed we would not go to the hospital until much later that night or the next day. We put the girls to bed and told them that we may not be there in the morning when they got up, but Oma would be there. Of course they love Oma so they were very excited! My mom arrived at our house around 11 PM. Luckily we had her come when we did because my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart then. We left for the hospital at midnight.

When we got to the hospital and all settled in it was about 12:30 AM. I was dilated to 4 centimeters and feeling very much in control of labor. I knew with our previous daughter I went from 4 centimeters to giving birth pretty quickly. They started to fill the water birth tub while I got an IV. The baby’s heart rate was a wee bit too high to get in the tub, so I got fluids and it brought it down right away. I also got one round of antibiotics for group B strep. I was going to decline the antibiotics because I had testing negative on my second test and done natural treatments, but my midwife said it could be given with the IV fluids and the IV would be removed right after the fluids were done, so I agreed to it. I only had to have the IV in for 30 minutes and then it came out and I went into the birthing tub at 1 AM-ish.

The birthing tub was fantastic! It felt great to float in the water. The contractions got much closer together but I felt very much in control. I read in Ina May’s books that making deep, open throat noises would help relax your body and help your baby move down. It worked really well for me. I felt warm in the tub at first, but Philip had an ice bucket full of wet washcloths to put on my head. Everyone was very quite the entire time. I don’t like a lot of noise while I am in labor.

Shortly after 2 AM my water broke. That is when the contractions got much more intense, but I still felt very much in control. I knew that the intensity meant that our baby would be arriving soon! I felt the urge to push shortly before 2:30 AM and with a few contractions and pushes Helena was born at 2:37 AM. I pulled her out of the water and onto my chest. My midwife was very hands off, which is what I wanted. The first thing I noticed was Helena’s red hair. (Our third red headed baby girl.) She was 7 lbs, 14 oz. (The exact same weight as Ella.) She was alert and nursed right away and hasn’t stopped. We waited awhile to cut the cord and then I got out of the birthing pool. I kept her on my chest for over an hour without any weighing, eye ointments, or anything like that. I only had a very small tear, which has made recovery so much easier then in the past.

Helena’s birth was a fabulous, empowering experience. It was the first time I felt very much in control the entire time. I knew my body was capable and I knew I was capable of keeping my mind in control. I also felt loved and respected by my midwife and the nurses. They trusted me and my body to have my baby. My husband was fantastic. He was a strong, silent, support durring the labor and delivery. He’s definitely a rock.

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So that's her story. More updates later. I promise to keep up with blogging.

Discovery Place Kids - Huntersville ROCKS

Hannah enjoying the little kid area. She LOVED the flowers and the little bridge she could walk on.

Ella and Grant (in the full gear behind Ella) enjoyed the fire truck.

Ella shopping in the grocery store. She had so much fun!

Ella at one of the water tables. There were a ton!

Hannah at the little kids water table. She is sitting in a highchair seat. She spent at least an hour here and loved it!

We recently visited Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville and it was grand! The girls had such a great time. If we were not moving I would have purchased a family membership. Fortunately there are similar places back in Minnesota. Unfortunately the fabulous friends we enjoyed the adventure with will remain in North Carolina. (I apologize for the bad pictures. There were taken on my cell phone. Next time I'll bring my real camera.)

E is for Ella

Check out what Ella made with her Legos! She did it all by herself. That's my smart girl. :)

I'm Making Crafts Mom...

Last weekend I woke up to the sound of Ella Bean humming and singing her monkey song. When I cam out to the living room to follow the sound she was all set up at the coffee table and told me "I am making crafts mom." She had decided she needed to make cards for her friends. Oh Bean, my little crafter. Just like mommy.

Crazy Busy Week, What Else Is New? :)

Ella giving Pooh Bear a big hug. She loves her Pooh Bear and enjoys reading him stories.

Hannah wearing the skirt and shirt that I made for her. It fits perfect and is too cute. I love it!

It's been another crazy week at school. The end of the school year is approaching and that means state testing. We have 20 school days until the End of Grade (EOG) tests. My co-worker and I are working on some really exciting EOG review for our kiddos. I think it will be grand. We've got some super interesting reading passages and exciting ways to re-enforce test taking strategies. I've gota handful of kiddos who are close enough to being on grade level that they have a shot at passing the tests. I know they can do it! I know I am a teacher-nerd when I get all excited about these things, but I embrace it. :) I really do love my job.

We wrapped up our unit on the Iditarod this week. My 5th grade reading group, which happens to be all boys, was reading a series of stories about the Iditarod and they were so into it! We followed the real Iditarod race since it was going on as well. Each of my kids picked a musher to follow. They learned so much and were so exciting about reading more and more about the race. Unfortunately the musher I picked was out of the race early on with an injury, but for the most part the guys picked strong teams. This past Thursday was the Science Fair at Royal Oaks, so we did a wicked cool project about dog sleds. The boys built a dog sled out of cardboard and then we raced it outside. We were investigating how the amount of weight in the sled affects the speed of the boys pulling the sled. They got so into the project. After we did all our trials with our weights I got in the sled and had them pull me. It was very funny when I wore two butt holes in the bottom of our sled. One of my kiddos said I better check my pants to make sure they didn't have holes because that was not something he was going to do. Love these kids. I will certainly miss them when I move back to Minnesota. They are a little rough around the edges, but have such big hearts.

On the kiddos front, Hannah can now say "Ella" and it's really cute! When I was telling Ella to come inside Hannah was holding onto my leg and standing next to me saying "Ella! Ella!" She's such a cutie pie. Ella Bean is getting very excited for her birthday that is coming up soon. She is so excited to have pink cake and play with balls. I figured those are pretty simple requests. We got her the American Girl - Bitty Twins Double Stroller for her birthday. I got it at a consignment sale so it needed some cleaning and some elastic repair, but that was easy. It looks like new now. She's young enough now that she does not care if it's not brand new. I will take advantage of that as long as possible.

Tomorrow we'll be off to soccer bright and early. This will be Ella's third soccer "game" (it's really just a practice) and she seems to enjoy it. She is proud to tell people she "falls and falls and falls" but she gets back up. So that is good. The highlight of soccer is often the snacks at the end.

Exciting News.... We get to fly to Minnesota over spring break! We are so excited! Philip found a great deal on tickets so we'll be headed North. It's not a direct flight but we can deal if it means we get to go see Philip, Bode Dog, family, and friends.

Monkey Scraps = Monkey Scrappy Twirly Skirt

I have a bag of left over monkey scraps from Ella Bean's 1st Christmas quilt and have been pondering what to do with them. Here is my first project with the monkeys. I LOVE this fabric. It's Moda Fabric, which makes it expensive fabric, but stinking cute fabric! I still have lots of scraps left. This outfit is for Hannah, but I think I can put enough together to make a skirt for Ella Bean as well. That will be a project for another night though. :)

A Day of Bliss...

Today was wonderful, a wonderful day of bliss. It started off with sleeping in, which is always grand. Ella Bean was up early, but she just crawled in bed and read stories while I slept. Hannah slept until 9 AM. It was fanastic! We made yummy coffee cake for breakfast and Bean helped. She is a pretty good cook. She is very fond of stirring things. We had a lazy morning of playing blocks and puzzles. Hannah likes to knock down Ella's towers. Ella is not so keen on this.

After our lazy morning he headed over to Julianna and Drew's house for the afternoon. Julianna and I and the four kiddos headed out on a walk to nearby Lake Lynn. (For you Minnesota folks it would be more "Pond Lynn".) It was a great workout pushing the kids up hills in the stroller! Once we got to Lake Lynn Grant, Ella, and Andy Bear had a stupendous time hitting the water with sticks, throwing rocks, splashing, and stepping in mushy mud. Julianna and I were discussing how sweet childhood is and how grand it is that they were having the most wonderful time with a few sticks, water, and mud. It was fun to watch. Hannah spent most of the time sitting in a tuff of grass and picking at it. After the kiddos were sufficiently muddy and messy we headed back home. We took the "off road" option, which would have been perfect without strollers. With strollers it was a wee bit interesting, but we made it all in one piece. Even Buddy the dog who tried oh so hard to get tangled in the stroller wheels. Poor Old Man Buddy.

When we got back the kids stripped down naked and frolicked about. Grant was very excited to give Ella some of his clothing to wear. He wanted her to wear PJs because they were "more comfortable" but Ella Bean opted for a Thomas shirt and shorts. The kids all played peacefully for a while, without any adult help, which was small piece of Heaven! Drew made delicious burgers for dinner and Bean even ate some. (No surprise that Hannah inhaled her burger and fries.) The girls both fell asleep on the way home.

Now we are home... it's still wonderful and warm outside. (It was at least 70 and sunny today.) It's just getting dark. Bean has informed me that it's not dark yet, so she can't go to sleep. She's up reading her story books on the sofa. Hannah is out cold.

So today is bliss... the only thing that could have made it better would be Philip being here to enjoy it with us.

Off to read with my munchkin. Then perhaps some sewing for me.

Grant is parting the Red Sea with his powers.

Andy Bear and Ella Bean splashing around.

Hannah and me. Hannah is getting so close to walking!

Hannah playing in the grass in her tutu dress.

Bear is up to no good.

Bear is fiercely independent, so naturally at 18 months he does not understand why he cannot go hiking on his own. After all, the dog is with him. (Bear is the blue speck, Buddy is right behind him.)

Grant is having fun in the mud... oh lovely mud!

Bean enjoying herself at the lake!

Grant and Bean throwing sticks and rocks in the water.

And Christmas Break Comes to an End

We've enjoyed the last few days of Christmas break and really are not ready to go back to work/school... but ready or not here it comes! Both the girls have been sick on and off during break, which is a bummer. But it's better durring break when we don't have to take sick days. Philip has enjoyed naps with Hannah and "coffee" with Ella Bean. (Ella Bean drinks steamed milk, while daddy drinks coffee.) I have enjoyed playing Little People with Ella Bean and cuddles with Hannah. (I have also enjoyed not pumping!)



I finished Heidi's wall quilt. It was her Christmas present, so it's a good thing I got it done. :) Her and her husband have a wonderful lake home that they let us retreat to, so I wanted to make a quilt to hang there. This is the lake, trees, and foothills. It's a grand place!



Ella and Daddy did some work on their computers. Ella's computer plays music and she sings along with it. It's too cute.



Ella took a break from her "work" to say cheese.



Hannah doesn't have any work to do, but enjoys sticking her tongue out and giggling.