Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!, and Belly Pics

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
I have enjoyed the last few weeks celebrating the birth of Jesus, spending lots of time with family, and eating lots of GREAT food! My mom is an AMAZING cook and every time I come back from visiting them, I swear, I gain at least 5 pounds. This time though I don't really have to worry about losing it. For once I don't have to make a New Year's Resolution to work out, get in shape and loose a little weight - in fact, being pregnant, I need to be gaining weight to have a strong and healthy baby! Woo-Hoo!! Not that I am going to go crazy and gain tons of weight, that's not good for us either.

Anyway, here is my first baby belly pic, taken on Christmas Eve. I was basically 15 weeks along (on Christmas).

Jer was talking to a friend of his last night and said, "I already feel bad for this baby because we don't even think about it. Every few days I'll say to Em, 'Oh yeah, you're pregnant.'" :) I, of course, remember that I am pregnant every day - but already this baby is falling prey to second child syndrome. I was taking belly pics at 10, 12, 13 & 14 weeks when I was pregnant with K, and now here is my first pic, at 15 weeks with Baby #2. Well, I guess some belly pics are better than none at all, right?

I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!! I am not one to make resolutions. I have tried in the past, and they never last very long, so I have just kind of given up on that. I am going to try my best though to blog more often than I have been lately. I would love to look back at the end of 2009 and be able to read about my thoughts and feelings and happenings in my life over the next year!

Baby on Board

For those of you who haven't seen my other blog to hear the news, we are expecting baby #2 in June!! We are really thankful for this new addition to our family and excited that Kaelyn and her baby brother or sister will be so close in age - about 20 months apart.

I am just starting my second trimester and starting to feel more like myself again. I was fortunate enough to not be too nauseous during the first trimester, but I was extremely tired. I'm not really starting to show yet, but I'll be taking belly pictures along the way and posting them to show how I'm progressing along.

I have chosen to see a midwife for this pregnancy that works as a part of an OB/GYN practice and delivers at the local hospital. So far, I feel really good about it and will let you know more about my experience with seeing a midwife as this pregnancy progresses. I can tell you already that I really appreciate her approach to the labor and delivery process. She seems to be much more accommodating to what the mother wants to do during labor and delivery as far as moving around and not being monitored and being able to push and birth the baby in whatever position you desire. She also is a strong advocate for water birth, and the hospital I will be at has birthing tubs in each labor and delivery room. I'm not sure how I feel about that idea yet, we'll see once it gets closer to the time. I am looking forward though to having another natural delivery and excited to welcome this new little life into the world to join our family!!

Great Giveaway!!

I thought I'd pass this along because it is an awesome giveaway.
Common Sense with Money is giving away a Flip Ultra Camcorder.

Click above, or got to this address and share your favorite Christmas memory:
http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/2008/12/share-your-favorite-holiday-memory-and.html.

Enjoy! (But, I hope I win!!!) :)

Final Four!

Kaelyn and I traveled to Wheaton this weekend with my parents to watch my little sister's soccer team play in the NCAA tournament. They had a game on Friday night, which if they won they would play again on Saturday night. It was FREEZING - around 20 degrees both nights, but the girls played well and won both of their games to move onto the Final Four!! Kaelyn was a trooper and watched the first halves of both games, and then headed inside to stay warm during the second halves. She actually enjoyed it - she liked to watch the ball get passed around, and when everyone cheered she clapped her hands and cheered too.

So, Laura's team will play in two weekends in North Carolina against Williams College on Friday and then if they win they will be in the National Championship on Saturday. I am so excited for my sister and the awesome experience and opportunity she has had to be a part of this team - even though she hasn't gotten to play at all in the tournament. It will be so fun for her to go to the National Championship with her team.

I also got to catch up with a dear friend over breakfast, and it was such a good time. I am so grateful for the great friends that I made in college and wish that I was better at keeping in touch with them.

It was a fun weekend with my family and as always, brings back fond memories of my college days! :)

Winter is Here

This is the scene that I woke up to this morning. It is sad because I'm not a huge fan of winter. And yet, there is something so clean and beautiful and serene about a new snowfall, especially the first of the season. I do love the way trees look when the snow sticks on their branches. And when the sun is shining and glistening off of the snow it is one of the most beautiful things in nature.
I am someone who connects with God through nature. There is something about looking on to His creation that is so full of awe and wonder for me. I love thinking about how God "paints" his creation so beautifully, and that we are able to enjoy it. So, this morning I will not be sad that winter is here and it will be many long months before we see the grass, and leaves and flowers, but I will simply take in the creation that God has given us to enjoy and protect.

Green Cleaning

I've been doing the "green" cleaning thing for a while now, since before Kaelyn was born. I decided that I didn't want to be using all kinds of chemicals around her and I also read some different things about how those chemicals don't necessarily make things any more clean.

Now, the main things I use for cleaning are vinegar and baking soda. In addition to not using harmful chemicals in my home, I am also saving money because commercial cleaners are pricey$$! Vinegar has natural disinfecting properties, and some things I have read say that anti-bacterial products are not the best things to use because they remove the good bacteria that we need and the bad bacteria is changing to become resistant to it. I read somewhere (I'm sorry I can't remember where) that kitchens cleaned with anti-bacterial cleaners were actually dirtier than those that were uncleaned. This is a pretty good article with good information and tips for green cleaning

One of the things I like the most about this change is that I don't have to have a dozen different products for every different type of cleaning job. I now clean the bathroom with vinegar and water, and baking soda. Everything from top to bottom gets sprayed with vinegar and I don't have to have glass cleaner, sink cleaner, tub and shower cleaner, toilet cleaner, floor cleaner, etc. This makes cleaning a lot simpler and actually faster because I don't have to waste time switching from one product to another. I also use it everywhere in the kitchen. It is my all-purpose cleaner.

One issue with vinegar that some people (including my wonderful husband) might have is the smell. It is not a pretty, pleasant smell, and it is not a chemically/bleachy smell. I have heard some people say that if it doesn't smell like chemicals they don't think it's clean. I now think, if it smells like chemicals think about what you are breathing into your lungs, getting on your hands, putting in your mouth, etc. Personally, the smell of vinegar doesn't bother me at all. It dissipates very quickly and it actually neutralizes any lingering odors there may be (like in the bathroom). I have tried to make the vinegar & water combo smell better by putting a few drops of essential oil in the bottle, but then I felt like it was making things greasy. So, I mostly use it when my hubby is not around and plan on buying either Seventh Generation or Clorox Green Works cleaner for him to use (waiting for them to go on sale!).

We have also switched to trying to use less paper as in paper towels and paper napkins. We use rags and bar mop towels in place of paper towels, and cloth napkins in place of paper napkins and paper towels.

Going "green" around the house is actually easier than you might think, and I am always thinking of new ways that I can reduce the amount of chemicals that are in our home as well as reduce the things that we use and then throw away. If you have homemade "green" cleaners that you use, or ways that you have reduced your trash, please tell me about it! I love hearing and sharing ideas!

I know it's been a while, life has been a little crazy and thrown us a few curve balls lately, but it's all good. This is the first and maybe the only "political" post you will see on this blog, but it was something I just couldn't ignore. I am quite passionate about politics, but I don't pretend to be informed or intelligent enough to write about it for the world to read, so I stick to talking about it with my husband, family, and friends.

I have heard a commercial on our local talk radio station and I finally checked out the website - www.bornalivetruth.com. I have to say that I am appalled. As someone who gave birth to my daughter and remember so distinctly her first cries, so small and helpless, I really don't understand how someone can say no to that. I don't understand how someone can have blood pulsing through their heart and their body, and yet have such a cold heart. I just don't understand. I don't trust that someone who has such little regard for a helpless little baby's life could possibly have the lives of all Americans at their best interest.

I am not a single issue voter. In fact, I don't vote based on abortion at all because I really don't believe that Row v. Wade will actually be overturned. I don't agree with or believe in abortion, but I don't vote based on that. I vote based on many other issues that I won't get into at this time, and those other issues usually lead me to vote for the candidate who is also pro-life. To me though, this is infanticide and it crosses the line, and really shows what little respect for human life this person actually has - he is more concerned about upholding a cause - pro-abortion - than he is concerned about a helpless baby that deserves to live. I believe this is a major indicator of his character - or lack there of - and shows the way that he would make decisions, not based on what is actually best for people's lives, but based on what lines up with his ideology - and that is an ideology that I just don't agree with for many reasons.

I'm sorry, again, I don't want this to be a controversial or political blog, but I just felt I had to write this, it was keeping me awake at night, and when you can't sleep over something - you know it is important.

I don't want to criticize others for their desire to vote for or against someone. We are so privileged to live in a country where we can choose who we want to vote for, for the reasons we want to vote for them, so all I will say is on Tuesday - Get out and VOTE!!!!!!!

My Little Sister!

My youngest sister, Laura, is playing soccer at Wheaton College this fall. She didn't play as a freshman, but tried out for, and made, the team this year as a sophomore. She had her first assist of the year on Friday night - I wish I could have been there, but I am so proud of her! And I just wanted to brag a little for her. Love you, Lo!

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

I've always wanted to be one of those people that is an early riser. I have grandiose dreams of everything I could do if I just got up an hour or two earlier in the morning. I would exercise, clean, read my Bible, work on my hobbies, enjoy my coffee, update my blog, read for pleasure, and even run errands. Whew - that's a lot to do! I know that my dreams are probably unrealistic, but I still think that if I could just get up an hour earlier that I could have a more productive day. The fact is that the only time I can really get any time for myself, and get anything done for myself is when K is sleeping (and no offense to Jer, but when he is not around) So an extra hour in the morning before they both get up makes me think of everything I could do with that time. Of course that would mean that I would have to go to bed earlier and not stay up late doing things like cleaning, updating my blog and watching the vice-presidential debate. Somehow morning time seems more productive than evening time. Maybe I should try it for a week and see if I really do get more done and then I can decide if I would rather get up early or stay up late. I'll have to let you know how it goes...

Joy

I just wanted to take a second to write about this because Kaelyn has brought so much Joy into my life recently. Of course, since the day she was born she has been such a blessing and Joy in our lives, but sometimes it just seems more abundant and I am more aware of it. It is so amazing to watch a baby as they grow and learn and try new things. My baby started walking this past week, and it has been so much fun to watch her work so hard to master this new skill. (Check out her walking on our other blog!)

I think that babies can teach us so much about living life, because they live with so much Joy and passion. They get very excited about small things. And they don't take those small things for granted. They love to laugh and explore and try new things. They love to be close and connected to others in their world. Even if they are having a bad day, they still smile, and giggle, and generally have a good attitude about things. My daughter loves her life, she is so full of Joy and that Joy overflows into my life.

I love it when Kaelyn smiles, just a simple smile when she is looking me in the eyes, and I know that she is smiling for me. I love it when she laughs, the little giggles when I am tickling her and the deeper laughing when she thinks something is really funny. I love that she pants (yes, like a dog) when she gets really excited about something. I love that she loves our dogs and loves animals in general and pants every time she shes an animal, even if it is just a picture in a book. I love the way her hair blows straight up in the wind when I am taking her for a walk or run in the stroller. I love carrying her, either in the sling or in the mei tei, and having her close to me and getting her involved in the everyday things that I am doing. I love her when she is sleeping, of course I love it when she is sleeping and I get to get some sleep too, but I love rocking her, and rubbing her back and watching her peaceful face as she sleeps. I love watching her with her daddy, the way he cares for her and the way she adores him.

And I love getting a small glimpse of the love that my Heavenly Father has for me and the Joy that I as His child bring to Him. There is nothing in this world that has given me a better understanding of God's love for us than the love of my own child. Kaelyn is a reminder of God's love for me each and every day, and that fills me with Joy.

Where does all the time go?

I need to write on here more, but sometimes things/life is just busy and the days go by so quickly and I look back and wonder what I did with all of that time. Do you ever get that feeling? Most days I am home for the majority of the day, K still usually takes 2 good naps a day, and we try to be home for those as much as possible because she is a much better sleeper at night if she naps well during the day. So, what do I do all day?!? This is a question that my husband often comes home and asks me, and it really irritates me because it's not like I am home and just sit on my butt all day. But yet, there are days at the end of the day that I ask myself the same question.

I guess the hard thing is that I do a lot of things that are unquantifiable (is that a word?), like feeding K or playing with her, getting her down for a nap, or trying to get her down for a nap, that take up a fair amount of time but are not necessarily "productive" things. You can't look back after feeding K lunch and say, "Okay, I just spend a half an hour doing that and I can see the results." You look at her face, her hands, her high chair, the floor, and say, "Wow, I just spent a half an hour feeding her and now I have a bunch of clean up to do." Or like one evening when I was trying to get dinner ready and entertain K at the same time. She was climbing in the cupboards and pulling everything out onto the floor. So, I am doing one thing, making dinner, and creating another thing for me to do later, put everything back in the cupboard, so it feels like, and looks like, I didn't really get anything accomplished. But, I know that not every day has to be a super productive day. Things will get done as they need to get done, and I will blog as I find the time. And the most important thing is that I get to be home and take care of and spend time with my daughter, and that is the most amazing and special, thing that I get to do all day.

Okay, I really need to go and get some stuff done before Jer gets home from work! :)

An Evening to Myself

Last night my wonderful husband took our beautiful daughter out to a soccer game. His dad coaches a local HS boys varsity team, so they went to go watch them play. This left me about 2 1/2 hours of glorious time to myself. And what do you think I did with my time?

A. Gave myself a mani/pedi.
B. Took a long bath with a great book.
C. Went out for coffee with a good friend.
D. Cleaned the house, did laundry and went grocery shopping.

It is so sad, but true - the answer is D! The reality of my life right now is that I am the blessed mama of an awesome, fun and SUPER active 10 month old. It is really hard for me get anything productive done during her awake hours. So, as soon as daddy and Kaelyn left yesterday I sped around the house picking up, cleaned up dinner and did the dishes, threw in a load of diapers, and then headed to the grocery store. Now, I must admit that on the way to the grocery store I stopped by Marshalls for a little look around and wound up finding some great jeans for a very reasonable price, and I also stopped by Starbucks before the grocery store. So, those were my ways of giving myself a little treat in the midst of doing the mundane stuff. Life has changed, and I now value silence in the car, the ability to try on clothes in a dressing room, and time to stroll around the grocery store, read labels and compare prices without worrying that my baby is going to get too tired. And even though I wasn't able to meet a friend, having a coffee drink to sip as I shopped without having to keep it away from baby's reaching hands is now a luxury to me. I view my time differently than I did before Kaelyn came, and I have learned to find joy in and appreciate the small gifts in life.

I laughed at myself last night when I got home and Jer asked me if I had a good time. My answer was, "I picked up around the house, washed dishes, did laundry, and went grocery shopping. What do you think?" But, the truth is that I did enjoy myself. The best part about it was that time was mine, and I chose to spend it the way that I wanted to spend it. And I am happy with my choices. It just struck me how much my priorities in life have changed - but all for the better.

Baby Wearing

I am a huge fan of baby wearing, and am becoming an advocate for it as well. There are lots of great reasons to baby wear, and I think it is such a great thing for both the baby and the parents, that every family should at least try it to see how it works for them.

When I was pregnant and reading every pregnancy and baby magazine I could get my hands on, I saw lots of adds for slings. I didn't do a whole lot of research, I just thought that they looked cool and comfortable, so I ordered myself a Hotsling (which is a pouch style sling) before Kaelyn was born. This was definitely one of the best purchases that I made. The sling became a lifesaver, allowing me to get things done around the house while carrying and comforting Kaelyn, helping to soothe Kaelyn when she was very tired, overstimulated or upset, and also encouraging me to get out of the house to run errands and other things because I knew that I could carry her with me and that she would be content. I would definitely recommend a sling to all mamas with new babies.

Also, my wonderful cousin Elizabeth, gave me a ring sling as a gift and encouraged me to wear my baby by showing me how she did it with her then 10 month old son. I didn't use the ring sling much when Kaelyn was younger, but from about 5 months until just recently, it was really the main way that I wore her, as she grew out of the pouch sling, and the ring sling has a more adjustable fit. I even convinced Jer to wear Kaelyn a few times in the ring sling, just around the house, when she was fussy or tired and needed to be comforted. I thought that I took a picture of him, but I can't seem to find it. He didn't really want people to know that he wore it, so he might have erased all of the evidence! :)
I have also breastfed Kaelyn a few times in the sling when out in public places, and it was a nice way cover up, you can put the tail of the sling over your shoulder for even more coverage, and remove distractions for her.




Now, I have just recently moved on to a mei tai carrier, which is an Asian inspired carrier. I just got my BabyHawk last Friday and tried it out for the first time at Cedar Point on Saturday. I am already in love!! It has padded double straps for both shoulders and also ties around your waist, so the babes weight is more evenly distributed across your shoulders and hips, which is great now that Kaelyn is getting heavier and the sling was starting to hurt my back and shoulder if I wore it for too long. With a mei tai you can carry your baby on either your front on your back. It is a little trickier than a sling to use because you have to wrap the straps around and tie them tightly and securly. But, Kaelyn took two great naps in it, and my sister-in-law Hannah also used it to carry her 2 1/2 year old on her back when she was too tired to walk on her own. I also think you could use a mei tai to breastfeed pretty discretely, but I haven't figured that out quite yet. In this pic Kaelyn is fast asleep and enjoying being close to mama!

For much more information about baby wearing check out TheBabyWearer.com.

A First Baby Kiss

We have been encouraging Kaelyn to give kisses since she was first born, but only lately has it really caught on with her. Now she responds to "Can I have a kiss?" by leaning towards you with her mouth wide open. If you are lucky enough you might get a little tongue with your kiss too! :) Well, the other morning I am laying in bed with Kaelyn and she is crawling all over me because she is awake and wants me to get up too. I was lying there with my eyes closed when Kaelyn pulled her paci out of her mouth and leaned down to give me a kiss - totally unprompted. It was the first time that she had initiated kissing me, and it was so so sweet! These are the moments that make being a mom so wonderful!

Here is Kaelyn giving Daddy a big kiss!

Birth Story

As I was sitting in the dark, rocking Kaelyn back to sleep last night during one of the few times that she woke up (yes, we are having some sleeping troubles) I was remembering my labor, and her birth. It is amazing how clearly I still remember many of the details even after 9 months, and before I forget, I want to write them down. So, here goes... sorry that it is so long, but I like details in a story!

It was Thursday, Oct. 18th. I was 6 days overdue. I was scheduled to be induced on Sunday, Oct. 21st, if she did not come before then. I really wanted to have a natural birth and avoid interventions and especially a c-section, so I really wanted my body to go into labor on it's own. I woke up about 5:45 a.m. with contractions, and I knew that this was it. Women always say that you will just know when you are going into labor, but I was having lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions in the evenings, and kept thinking, "What if this is it and I don't know it?" Well this morning it was different, and I knew it was different, and I knew that I was going to have our baby. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was watching the clock each time I got a contraction. They were about 10 - 12 minutes apart, but not super strong. I had no idea how long of a day it would be. I woke Jer up and told him and we tried to decide whether he would go into work or not. I really wanted him to stay with me, but I also didn't know how long the whole process would take, and he didn't want to miss more than a day of work just for labor, because he only got one week of work off for the baby. Finally about 8:30 Jer called work and let them know I was in labor and he wouldn't be coming in. I am so glad that he decided not to go, because we got to spend a relaxed, wonderful day together anticipating the arrival of our baby girl.

The whole day is a little bit of a blur to me, I do know that we took two walks, watched Evan Almighty, cleaned up around the house and made sure everything was ready for our new baby to come home. I was having regular contractions, but they weren't too close together and they were not unmanageable at that point. Around 6:00pm things started to get more serious, my contractions were about 6 minutes apart and they were becoming stronger. I had to focus more to get through them, and I knew that this was the beginning of "active labor". At this point Jer started to get really worried about me and wanted to go to the hospital. So, we called my doctor who said that I probably still had at least 12 hours ahead of me, and to just stay home until the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. We then called our doula, Stacia, and told her that we were ready for her to come over and assist us with my labor. For those of you who don't know, a doula is a labor and birth coach. They are trained and certified to help women with their labor and to advocate for them, so the woman achieves as close as she can to the labor and birth that she desires. In our case we chose to use a doula because I knew that I wanted to have a natural birth with as few interventions as possible, and studies show that having a birth coach greatly increases your chances of having a natural delivery, and decreases your risk of c-section. So, Stacia came over to our house around 7:00, and somewhere along the way it started storming heavily outside. Thunder, lightening, pouring! By this time, things were getting much more intense, and I had to "work through" my contractions. Jer was an amazing support to me, and most of my contractions were spent standing rocking side to side with my arms around his neck and my head resting on his chest or shoulder. Some of my contractions were double-peaking, something that I didn't know could happen until I experienced one. For those of you who have never been through labor, contractions are like a wave - they build slowly, rise to a peak, and then slowly come back down. When you are trying to manage your contractions normally you know that once they hit their "peak" you can relax because the worst is over. Well, when a contraction double-peaks, it means that it builds, peaks, and then builds from there to a second and "stronger" peak - the best way to describe it is NOT FUN!! And much, much harder to manage, in my humble opinion. But, most of my contractions were still 4-5 minutes apart, so it seemed I still had a while to go.

So, the storm outside seemed to die down, and Stacia suggested that we go for a walk to try to get things moving along a little faster. We head out around 9:00 to walk, and as we are leaving, my parents show up. They were going to stay at our house with our dogs while we were at the hospital. They were going to go inside and then head to my sister's apartment in Elkhart (20 min. away) and we planned to see them later at the hospital once the baby was born. So, we're walking around the block and are about 2/3 of the way around when the tornado sirens start going off!! Yikes! We hadn't thought to actually check the weather before we headed out. We started to speed walk/run back to the house - all the while I am having major contractions. As we get to our driveway, the sirens stop. We went inside and checked the weather and see that the tornadoes are mostly north and south of us, but the rain starts pouring down again outside. I am freaking out a little at this point thinking about how we are going to get to the hospital in the middle of the storm. We decide to wait a little bit longer and see if the storms move on, and I lie down on the couch to try to get some rest - I had been up since 5:45 that morning. And as a side note, we did have major tornadoes in the area that evening, but none that were too close to us thankfully!

Finally around 10:30 the rain dies down, my contractions are instensifying even more, and about 2-3 minutes apart. We decide to head to the hospital. The whole drive there it does not rain at all on us, but I am so, so uncomfortable in the car trying to manage my contractions. We get to the hospital and have to check in through the ER. I am sure that the people in the waiting room got quite a show, because I was in serious labor at this point. They asked me if I wanted a wheel chair, but I told them I would walk because I didn't want to be confined to sitting during a contraction. While we were making our way up to labor and delivery I had two major contractions, one in the hallway, and one in the elevator, and the orderly that was with us told them to put me right into a room, I didn't even have to go through triage, because there was no doubt that I was in labor.

My nurse's name was Kristy and she was awesome! She had read my birth plan and wanted to help me have the natural birth that I desired. They had to hook me up to the monitor for 20 minutes to check to make sure that the baby was okay and that the contractions were regular and normal. That was one of the longest 20 minutes of my life. I can understand why women who go to the hospital early in their labor and are hooked up to the monitor constantly, and are not allowed to manage their contractions on their own, end up getting an epidural. It was torture to sit there and not be able to move, as contraction after contraction swept over me. Finally, they un-hooked me and the checked to see how dilated I was. This was the lowest point of my whole labor and delivery because they said I was only 4 centimeters (you have to get to 10 to be ready to push). I thought for sure I would be at 6 or 7, and I did not understand how my labor could be so intense and I still had 6 more centimeters to go. At this point I started to think that maybe I wouldn't be able to do it, because I didn't know how I could handle even more and stronger contractions as the labor progressed, thinking that I wasn't even halfway through it. But, Jer and Stacia helped me to try different things to manage the contractions, and get my mind off of how dilated I was. After rejecting a freezing cold shower, and sitting on a birth ball for a while, I started to feel the urge to push and felt like I was going to throw up. I also felt like I could not do it anymore. I really really wanted it all to just stop and go away, and I wanted to be done. This was when I started to really loose it. These are typical sings that you are in the "transition" stage of labor. The nurses and everyone told me I was not ready to push, but the checked me again to see how far I had progressed. It had only been about an hour and a half, but I was 8 centimeters dilated! I was so encouraged that I had progressed that much so quickly, and I had new resolve to make it without an epidural. I did however give in when they asked if I wanted Nubane, which is a narcotic, like morphine. It doesn't completely take the pain away, but it makes you not care about it so much. So, they tried to put an IV into my hand to administer the drug, and it took them three tries - two on one hand and one on the other. It was awful!! I was wishing I had just said no to the Nubane, the pain of having them keep missing my veins while I was having contractions was almost to much. But, they finally got it and gave me the medicine and if anything it was all in my head, because I did start to feel like I could manage better again. The contractions were right on top of each other now - about 45 seconds apart and the most intense peak I could ever imagine, but they were also over quickly. Jer held me, as I stared into his eyes and focused on just living through each contraction - they were so intense I really thought I might not make it through them.

Finally, they told me that I could push as I felt the need to. Pushing relieved so much of the pain and pressure, and the contractions slowed down alot, so I had time to rest and recover in between them. I pushed for about 45 minutes, and then Kaelyn Elizabeth McClements, came into this world at 2:34 am on Oct. 19, 2007. Amazing!! And I had done it almost completely naturally, without an epidural!! All I have to say is that it was so worth it - it was a high like I have never experienced before in my life. At that point everything else vanished in the world and it was just Jer, me and our baby, I forgot all the pain and struggle and was just overwhelmed with amazement at what my body could do and overcome with love for our baby. She was so beautiful, healthy and alert. She made it all worth it - and that moment of holding her on my chest is one that I will cherish always.

First Family Photo!

"Becoming Green"

Have you ever noticed how some things in life seem to have a snowball effect? You start doing one small thing, or make one small change in your life, and all of the sudden you've made a lot of big changes or your life is going in a different direction than you had planned.

I never really intended to "go green". Honestly, I am not too concerned with global warming, and didn't really think that I could make that big of an impact anyway. I liked doing things the way that I did them, and I liked the convenience of my "throw away" lifestyle.

I'm really not sure what the first decision I made or the first small change that pushed me in this direction was. I think back and maybe it was my decision during pregnancy to go through labor and delivery without outside interventions. I had a mostly unmedicated labor, I did not receive an epidural, and Kaelyn came into this world in the most natural and beautiful way. I'll have to write my birth story another time. :) Maybe it was my decision to breastfeed from day one. There is not a more "green" activity then breastfeeding. No formula to be produced in factories, shipped across the country, shelved in grocery stores, purchased and brought home where you mix it with water and make it in a bottle (that may be made out of harmful plastics) and then the bottle has to be cleaned after each feeding. Breast milk requires no extra production and creates no extra waste. Maybe it was my decision to use cloth diapers (that's a whole different post too). Maybe it was when Jer lost his job and we had to be more "frugal" and resourceful. I don't know, but somewhere along the way I changed, and I am finding myself more concerned with "going green" then I ever imagined I would be. I am continuing to make small changes that will add up to big changes in the long run, and I see my life going in a different direction than I had previously thought it would. I am continually thinking of, or seeking out new ways to change, either my actions or my thinking, and I am proud of the decisions I have made and the direction I, along with my family, am headed.

Too many things, too little time...

There are so many things/topics that I would like to write about and cover on my blog that just thinking about all of them makes me a little overwhelmed. So, I think I am going to try to just take one at a time as they are on my mind. This may make my blog a little all over the place, but hopefully it will still all make sense somehow.

So, our house is the on the market right now, and it has been quite stressful getting it ready to put on the market and now making it presentable each time someone wants to come and see it. Especially with an 8 month old baby and two dogs! There are certain things that can only be done in the last hour or two before a showing, like wiping down the bathroom, cleaning the kitchen and vacuuming, because no matter how often you stay on top of those things, they always have to be done one last time in order to be ready for some stranger to come and inspect your house. It's a bit of a strange feeling to know their are random people looking through your house and trying to decide whether or not they like it enough to live there. So far, I will admit, it has not been a fun process. But, if you know anyone that is looking for a house, please send them our way!!

The one great thing I have learned from all of this is that cleaning is much much easier when done on a regular basis. I have never been one of those "homemakers" that was really good at staying on top of the household. Many a time our house has been fairly chaotic, not to mention downright dirty, and I learned to just see through everything and not see the state that the house was truly in. When we first put our house on the market and were preparing for our first showing by madly cleaning, I said to Jeremy, "How long does it take to form a habit?" He answered, "30 days." So, I said, "Well, then I hope our house doesn't sell for 30 days so that we get in the habit of keeping our house this way." I am happy to report that now that our house has been on the market for about 30 days, my vision has changed and I view our home in a much different way. Although I am not happy that our house is still for sale after 30 days, I am happy with the change that has come about as I have learned to always clean up after myself, and to routinely and regularly clean so that things never get to the point that they were before our house was for sale. We have another showing tomorrow, and I know that except for the few last minute jobs that I have to do, our home is in fairly good shape and won't take much to be ready to show. Now, if I can only take these new attitudes and habits with me to the next place that we live!

Beginnings

I have high hopes as I begin this blog that it will be a place I can post my thoughts on life. That it can be an outlet for me as I move along on this journey of being a wife and mother. I have learned and changed much in the last year or so, and I hope to share some of that here, as well as chronicling as I continue to grow.

About Live ReNewed

My name is Emily, and I am the blessed wife of my awesome hubby, Jeremy, and mama to our daughter Kaelyn (Oct. ’07), and our newborn son, Brenden (June ’09).

As a follower of Jesus Christ, my passion is to put on my new nature and be renewed as I learn to know my Creator and become more like Him (Col. 3:10). Over the past year and a half, God has been teaching and growing me in the area of stewardship – of my time, our resources, and the resources that He has provided for us on this Earth.

The birth of our daughter, and my husband’s job loss soon after, allowed me to rethink the way that we were living a complete consumer lifestyle. I began to seek ways to live more simply and frugally. Often living frugally also meant being easier on our environment as well. I began to read and learn about the importance of Christians caring for God’s creation. After reading the book Serve God, Save the Planet, by Matthew Sleeth, my passion for caring for this world that God has entrusted us with grew. The care of creation became even more important to me than being “frugal”, but I still wanted to save money in any way that we could! So began the journey that God is leading me on - becoming “frugally green”. I am passionate about encouraging others and helping others learn to be more frugal and more “green”, as I am just starting out and learning myself. I would be honored if you would join me on this journey!