Four!!

Weeks that is! I can't believe that my little guy is really that old. Time is going to fast, so I am

trying to capture it in photos. Thanks again to Renee and her tips. Next I need to learn how to set up the background better. Oh, and get more hats! Now back to Isaiah. How has he changed? He has just started to grin and make sweet baby noises. Really that is it for now. I love this little sweet man.

One knitting injury and one cute hat!

This weekend I finished my first knitted hat!!! I also got my first knitting injury. This of course would only happen to me. I am just special that way. I was walking and bumped my knitting bag into a wall. A knitting needle came through the bag and punctured my leg. I now have a hole and bruise to prove how dangerous knitting can be. But I also have a cute hat and baby to model it so all is well. I have already started working on the next hat for Melia. I am totally addicted to knitting!

Why???

Why do my boys think it is okay to lick people? I don't know for sure but I am sticking with: It's all dads fault!! He likes to play like they are animals that eat each other. I know he is crazy, but they all love it. Now if I can get them to not lick the company!! Maybe they will forgive them because they are so darn cute.

HELLO SPRING!!

Spring is here!! That means much less of these. Much more of this!! I love spring. It means summer is just around the corner and we will kick off these!! Oh, please forgive the boys for the girl coats, but we use what we have.

Learning

I spent Monday learning. Learning there is a lot more to taking a beautiful picture than one might think. All of these are what I took after everything was set up for me.
If you want to see more of my sweet boy or enjoy other beautiful photos click here. Renee did our birth photos and new born photos. She is amazing and so are her pictures!!

Boots's Banana Pancakes!!

I never would have thought that my new favorite pancake recipe would come out of my four year old daughters cook book, but it has. I love pancakes, but always have guilt feeding them to my kids and they never seem to get full on them. I decided to try an oat pancake. I found a recipe in my Bobs Red Mill Baking Book, but it wasn't a huge hit with the kids(they did enjoy it). So upon their request I tried Boots's Banana Pancake. I was so surprised by the ingredients and my kids love them. The recipe I am sharing has been altered to how I really make them. One batch isn't enough to feed my crew!!

3 ripe bananas

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup quick cooking oats( i used old fashioned and ground them in the food processor first)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup flax seed meal(just through some in as I had it on hand)

1 1/2 cups milk

3 eggs lightly beaten

1 1/2 tablespoon canola oil( i used vegetable oil)

Smash banana and combine with all wet ingredients in medium bowl. In large bowl mix all dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients. I always start with their recommended amount of milk and then add more if my batter appears to thick. Once cooked my kids like peanut butter and syrup. Topped off with a little sliced banana. Or if you are like Samantha a tower of sliced banana

Picture day!!

Today I practiced taking photos of Isaiah, but even the cats couldn't resist! I thought the boys should get a photo together. HA!! Two year old boys don't sit nice like a baby or pose like their sisters. This was the best I got. Enjoy my Thousand Word Thursday!

One Week

I can't believe it, but Isaiah has been in this crazy world for one week now!! It seems both long and short. Maybe that has to do with sleep deprivation or maybe it is the speed of childhood. Some moments seem ever lasting and others a blink of an eye. So far Isaiah is fitting in around here well. He is a baby who cries when he needs you and if you snuggle him to much. Of this I am guilty!! His biggest change this week is his volume. It is as if someone found it and gave it a good turn. I knew that sweet baby cry couldn't last forever. He does well sleeping through all our noise in his bed in the living room. Nursing is going well and he is up to 10lbs 1oz. Now I must hurry up and finish this along with my apple dumpling(THANK YOU MERRIANN) as grunting is starting to come my way from what I am sure is a hungry little man!

Bonding

The last time we had a baby in the house Kellina was two and really there were two babies. My point is Kellina didn't really care much for or about the babies. This time being four and loving dollies she is really into her brother. I mean a doll that moves and makes sounds. SO FUN!! That is if he is happy while in her care. The moment he squeaks she tells me he needs his milk and hands him over. The other night she got to hold a happy awake baby for a long time. She was so in to every detail of him. She pointed out how tiny every part of him is. Which was very obvious when daddy came over. It was a sweet time of bonding for the two!

The Long Story

My loving hubby gave the short story and I thought I would give the long one. March first started off with Samantha's birthday celebration. We had known there was a chance we would be called in to start the induction process during the late morning and wanted Samantha to get her special time. By her request we enjoyed waffles covered in peanut butter, syrup, and powdered sugar. After that is was time for gifts. She had only wanted one movie. Guess what?! She got it. Then she was excited to get ready for a possible baby birth. She had told us she wanted to be there and we agreed that it would be a good idea. Since waiting was near impossible we watched her new movie. Then when Jeff could stand it no more he called to see if we were able to be fit in. The nurse said they were still full and it didn't look good. UGH!!! Off to the mall we went to get our minds off the bummer news. We then planned a birthday lunch for Sam. While we were at the mall though I got the call to come in now because they had a bed!!! We loaded and called babysitters. The excitement was tangible. Jeff dropped me off at the hospital and took the kids home. He then called and asked if he could still take Samantha out. I agreed and checked in at the hospital. Turns out my doctor had been called into a surgery that had turned into an emergency. So all I could do was wait and be monitored. The nurse checked me when I arrived. 2 cm. Same as always. Jeff and Samantha had arrived, but still no doctor. Then my doula arrived, but still no doctor. The nurse came in and out for four hours before the doctor finally arrived. I had been having contractions the entire time. They were now four minutes apart, but just felt the same as all the ones I had been having since forever. The doctor checked me anyways. I was at 4cm!!! So he broke my water and away we went! Normally I get my epidural right away. This time the doctor was off to do a c-section and I wouldn't be able to get one for about 2 hours. The contractions were still fine so no big deal. Then with the support of Jeff, my doula, and the birth photographer I did an amazing thing. I walked the halls to get labor going!!! Okay for some of you this is not a big deal. For me it is amazing. When I couldn't handle it any longer I got my epidural. I had made it all the way to 6 cm with no pain meds!!! Small step for some, huge leap for me. It was a very amazing thing to go through with Jeff. He was my rock and inspiration. He gives all the credit to our doula and birth photographer. He said with out them he was sure I would have given in much sooner. He is probably right, but he was amazing!! I told the nurse I was sure baby would be here by 10:30 or 11:00pm. At 10:45 I was 10cm and ready to push. Now if only my doctor would show up. When he got in at 11:15 pushing began. Isaiah Samuel was born at 11:20. No problems with his 10lb 4 oz size!! He has been the perfect fit to the family and the little girls can't get enough!! And the boys? They don't seem to care one way or another, but suddenly seem HUGE!