Just Checkin' In

This year is flying by!! Can you believe we're almost to the end of 2008!!!! Wow! At the end of this month Quenton will be FOUR. My goodness, it seems like only yesterday ;) I really really need to scan some pictures of Quen when he was a baby; he and Caleb look identical other than Quen has the darkest brown eyes and Caleb has the brightest blue eyes. My guess is that their personalities will NOT be the same though. Caleb is far more layed back, very easy come easy go. He loves to just lay and watch what's going on around him. Quenton was and is a busy dude. He likes to be on the go and he likes to be in charge. I'm sure we'll have some interesting times here in about a year or so :D
Following are some pictures of my two little guys together, see if you can see the resemblance before I scan in a picture of Quenton as a baby.




This one was taken to commemorate Grandma Vicki sending these adorable hats for everyone. Ari was eating lunch at the time or she would have been pictured sporting her pink one. Caleb was going to his happy place. Have you ever met a baby that likes hats?








I HAD to include this picture cause it's SO stinkin' cute, and though you can't SEE Quenton in it, he's the one that Caleb's smiling at. Some of Caleb's first and biggest smiles were for his big bro.

LOVE those baby cheeks!!!










Now don't wet yourself, but yes, that is my not quite 4 year old holding, without any support (!!) his 16+ lb baby brother. And he even looks happy about it. I tried it out with him before hand, seeing if he was strong enough and then I HAD to get a picture. How cute is that?

My precious worker man!

I couldn't bring myself to close my blog tonight without showing off what a wonderful helper I have in my precious Quenton. He is a very hard worker, with a wonderful attitude. I've been blown away by how much he can already do. He's not yet four, and as you will see, he can pretty much do the laundry completely by himself!!

Here we have a Quenton dangling precariously off of the edge of the washing machine, taking wet clothes out and putting them in the dryer. Did I mention he has extraordinary balance (and there's a stool down there out of the view of the camera)?

Usually Arianna (his two year old sister)
is in there pushing the clothes into the dryer for
him so he doesn't have to get up and down,
but for the sake of the documentary, it seemed
fitting that he should be doing the pushing himself. lol!








Alrighty, washer is empty, dryer is full. Start 'er up Bub.
Pushing the button is the favorite part you know.
Now, let's see about starting up another load!



Now, get Mom's homemade soap,
yes Mom does make her own
laundry soap at times :) ,
measure it out and throw it
in the washer.











And now the clothes go in!!














Voila! The clothes are in, the lid is shut, and my little man did an awesome job!! At this rate I will have worked myself out of a job by the time he's about 8 ;)


I'm accepting applications for marriage at this time. *Snort*

Let's see, where did I leave off

It seems to me I was posting pictures of my little doll face :)

I'm having one of those warm fuzzy, I just love my kids so much I can barely stand it nights. *Grin* God is so, so good!




Here's Caleb getting a bath. I heart bath pictures. Babies are just so stinkin' cute nekked. Love the rolls ;)

Here we have Ari, trying desperately to
be a little mother. As you can see, Caleb is having nothing to do with it.



This was taken on Ari's birthday (Sept. 23rd). That little doll in her lap has been dubbed "Baby Rachael" and she carries her everywhere. Every time Momma gets our the nursing pillow, Ari likes to carry baby Rachael over and "nurse her" from her protruding belly button *snort*. She is ALL girl. I can't wait (in some ways) to see what a terrific mother she will be.

He SMILES!!

Here we have one of Caleb's first few smiles! Too cute. You gotta love those first little baby grins.

And though he's not smiling in this one, it's one of my favorites. It just seems like it shows his sweet, gentle nature to me. For the most part, he is very mild and even tempered. He loves to watch his brother and sister play. Really, he's always been a people person. From the day he was born he has loved to be out where everyone is. He seems to relish noise and activity. Oh, and when it's not noisy in the house... meaning when the other two are in bed, *grin* he makes plenty of noise himself. He LOVES to coo, and he does it a lot. Oh Lord help me to remember and cherish these precious baby moments that are SO fleeting!!

Here's a picture of me with my little man. These, of course, are few and far between. Momma's usually the one behind the camera. It must have been a woman who developed the idea of timers eh? Hmm... sounds like a good homeschooling lesson opportunity. Digital Camera 101 for Quenton ;)

Here's another really good shot of those big blue eyes! He is SO (!!) strong too. He can hold that big noggin up for a long time on his tummy, and he's rolling over from his back to his tummy all the time. *Sigh* They do grow fast don't they?!!

As our Caleb grows!

Well, Mr. Caleb came out with very bright blue eyes, but based on past experience, I had little hope that they would stay that color. However, I've been in for a surprise. See for yourself! This is Caleb at about 2.5 months. Hopefully you can see what a gorgeous color his eyes are in this picture. If not, no worries, there are more to come!
I've kind of been waiting this whole time for his eyes to change, because his brother and sister both have VERY dark brown eyes. Both of them started out with dark blue eyes, but they changed in the first couple of months.

Here's Caleb with Quenty, who, again, is quite delighted with his brother. Hmm.. now that I'm looking at it, I wonder what I did with that outfit. Isn't it adorable? My dear friend Praise sent it to me for him. It has these precious little turtles all over it, and well, I love turtles, although not quite as much as I love the little chunk that's wearing it. *Note how dark Quenty's eyes are*Oh, and did I mention he sucks his thumb? Lol! He looks addicted already doesn't he.

Some shots of Caleb-Coo

Well, now that you know Caleb made it safely into this world, I thought it would be an opportune time to share some pictures of my handsome little man. He's an adorable little bugger, and eats well *snort*.
Here he is at just a couple of days old, with his very, very proud older brother.

Here he is about a month later. Those cheeks are just MADE for kissin', dontcha think?
He sleeps rather soundly too. I must've taken 12-13 different shots of him that night, with the flash on and everything. He didn't move a muscle. God is good!


More later... blogger is having issues and won't let me post any more pictures. :)

Well, it's only been about 5 months *Cough*

It seems to me it's high time I update my blog eh? Life got pretty wonky (that's my new word for the week) after my third child graced us with his presence. Yes, that's right! In case you've been hiding under a rock and didn't know, Mr. Caleb Benjamin Haug arrived June 5th weighing in at 8lbs 4 oz (bigger than his big brother started out as) and 21 inches long.

If you'd read my blog previously, you would know, there was some question as to the position of this little man, as well as some prolonged pre-labor. As it turned out, we wound up doing with Caleb the exact same thing we did with Ari: Manually turning him and then breaking the water. He was born about 15 minutes under 5 hours after my water was broken. Praise the Lord for speedy births. The ride from the midwife's house home (so I could birth at home) after she broke my water was not the most comfortable ride I've ever had, but it was worth it! Let me tell you, I loved my home birth. He was born in what amounted to be a cattle trough, but hey, it's easily transportable and it served its purpose well. ;)

So, life is changing and ever different now, with this added little bundle. I've saved up plenty of things to blog about in my 5 month absence, so, Lord willing, look for more posts to follow shortly.

The Blessing of kids!

I had THE most awesome time with my son the other night. I walked away, nearly in tears, grateful for the billionth time for my precious boy.

I was putting him to bed the other night, which has not been something I look forward to most nights, because usually by then I'm contracting at least some, my back hurts, and I'm tired. But, I do enjoy the chats we have here and there, because he often uses this time at night to talk to me about his day, which is precious beyond words. Well, this was one of those nights, and I'm so thankful that I didn't hurry through it, kiss him goodnight and leave.

I was sitting next to his bed, kind of bouncing up and down on one of those giant balls you always see at Walmart. I had my shirt pulled up off of my tummy, just cause sometimes it's more comfortable that way. He was kind of eyeing my tummy, so I said "You know, baby Caleb is going to come out soon." He smiled and seemed pleased at that idea. Then I asked him if he wanted to talk to Caleb. He looked surprised and glanced at my belly and then up at me and said something like "Will he talk back?" I laughed and said "No, even if he was out here he wouldn't be able to talk yet, but he can hear you, even from in there." He got a big grin and leaned close to my tummy and said "Hi Caleb, it's me Quenton." *heart melt* Then I said, can you tell him to turn so his head is down? He did, and I asked if he'd tell him to come out soon. He did that too. It was soo cute too, because he motioned downward with his hands and said, you need to come out this way. I'm not entirely sure how he even knew that, but he said it exactly right. Anyway, then we went on to prayer time. He said his list of things he wanted to pray for and then began to pray. He started out on his bed, but quickly jumped up and laid his head right on my belly and prayed "Jesus, please help baby Caleb to turn his head down and to come out very soon, and please keep him safe (what wisdom in a little boy). Also, please protect Daddy and help him with his work...."

It was one of the most precious moments I have ever had the pleasure of living through. The caring and sweetness in his voice towards his unborn brother was priceless.

What an honor it is to raise these precious jewels! God, grant me the patience to endure the days that don't end quite so nicely, and the wisdom to remember the days that do!

Thinking....

I'm feeling a bit contemplative this evening. I almost want to say heavy hearted, but it's not that exactly. Reflective maybe? Anyway, part of me is feeling down on myself for being short with my little sweet ones this evening before bedtime. Some days I just don't take the persistant, on-going, seemingly endless (getting the drift?) line of questions from my precious 3 y/o. And then of course, there are just days where you feel like they're trying every trick in the book to get away with something. Quenton is exTREMely obediant generally. But, once in a while, he gets it in his head to try a series of things through out a day, in an effort I guess, to assure himself that Mama is still serious about the obediance thing. Let it be known... Mama is serious! But... 10 days before my due date is not my favorite time to play this "game". Actually the last several nights in a row I haven't been the most pleasant person in the world to be around, I'm ashamed to say. Suffice it to say, I do pray this little man would find his way (and stay) in the head down position, and that he would make his appearance very very soon. I do tire of being cranky. The Lord does sustain me though. I am so blessed. I'm so thankful for this healthy little boy, and ever so grateful for my delightful and inquisitive children. The verses "Let not your heart be troubled" and "Do not grow weary in doing good" come to mind just now. Thank you Jesus for bringing me through each and every day. Let tomorrow end with a smile of pure joy!

For the record

It does seem at long last that I have my answer to my most puzzling question throughout this pregnancy.... "Am I due in May or June?"

Me thinks this is a June baby. I started contracting a couple of weeks ago, and thought to myself, "Oh oh oh, I was right, I was a month off. Yeah, May baby." As I continued to contract EVERY night that week I was definitely reminded of the end part of my pregnancy with Arianna. As much fun as it is to contract and then stop every night... leaving you in this horrible quandry and sending you multiple times to your poor midwife to be checked yet AGAIN. Well, this time I refused to do that. I called her the first night, as a sort of "heads-up", but then left it at that. It was so hard to know what to do, because I have a dear friend who has been at each of my births thus far in a doula capacity, and would like to be present for this one as well, BUT she lives in North Idaho. I start contracting and think, "well, should I call her and tell her to book a flight? Or, is this going to continue on for some time etc?" I did call her, but I told her to hold off. Good thing eh?

All that to say, I think I finally figured it out. See, I started taking this Gentle Birth labor prep stuff about a week before those contractions started. I dismissed it as having anything to do with my contractions because they started a week later. I believe I was a bit hasty in my dismissal. After reading some posts on the welltellme forum about Gentle Birth, I came to different conclusions. So, I continue to contract here and there, seemingly randomely. It's not my favorite thing in the world. Not that they hugely hurt, but it does make me wonder how easily I'll recognize it when I'm in labor for real. I really don't like NOT knowing. And I do hope that enduring weeks and weeks of this WILL make my labor/delivery easier. I think I would be most put out if I went through all of this, only to have another 10-12 hour labor.

Either way though, this little baby will be making his appearance rather soon, and I certainly look forward to it. Oh, how I can't wait to cuddle my little Caleb and cover his little face with kisses and and and. What a blessing from God our little ones are!!