Thursday-to do

Today is a crazy day. And Presley was up twice last night instead of the usual once, so I'm very tired. Don't know if I can fit a quick nap in or not.

• Called the dr. at 8:30 to see if I could get a flu shot today. They said to come right now. Loaded 3 kids in the van and went. Now my arm hurts.
• Worked on Phonics and Math with Avery-she's so smart. Math is really easy for her right now. She started reading last week, and this week she read her first book.
• Fed Presley
• Need to do 3 loads of laundry
• Need to clean 3 bathrooms
• Need to fix lunch and figure out what to do for dinner.
• Need to figure out what I'm teaching tomorrow.
• Plan to make gingersnaps with the girls and pumpkin dip-yummm!
• I told Avery and McKenna I'd paint their nails today. Wonder if they'll forget...
• Need to feed Presley 6 more times today.
• Today is my niece's birthday. Happy Birthday Reese!

Sugar Pumpkin seeds

2 cups pumpkin seeds-scraped out of the pumpkin, rinsed, and let dry out for 48 hrs.
mix with 1 egg white
mix together 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp each salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg
mix sugar mixture into the seeds to coat
bake at 275 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes

Yummy!!!!

Quote of the week

This picture seems like forever ago. You'll know why I posted it when you read this week's quote. Presley Faith is 4 weeks old today. Time has flown these last 4 weeks, yet it's harder and harder to remember what life was like when she was inside me. We have a new schedule, a new routine, a new kind of normal.

Today was my first day back at Friends, and I survived. I cried alot earlier in the week, today I didn't have time to think about it. It went by fast, though. I'm glad it's over and I don't have to worry about it again for another 6 days.

On to the quote-my mentor, former voice teacher, and friend, Dr. Weber saw me today for the first time since Presley was born. He gave me a big hug and asked how I was. I said, "ok." He responded by saying,

"Well, you don't look fat anymore."

Thanks...I think-

It's what I get...

This is what I get for procrastinating. My husband took my post! I tried to put the pumpkin pix on my computer 2 days ago and it wasn't working. Kevin put them on his computer last night and posted them here.

I teach again tomorrow-I'm wishing time would just stand still, or that the snow would come and make Friends cancel classes. I'm just not ready to go back. I don't want to leave Presley. Ugh...And I'm tired of thinking about having to go back and being sad about it...

It's cold here-we're staying inside today. We have school and laundry to do. Avery is starting to read and it's so exciting! She's reading simple sentences and lots of different words. I'm so proud of her. McKenna is learning how to spell her name. She's doing really well also.

Presley is still gaining weight. She has her 1 month appt. next week. I can't believe she's already a month old. She is staying awake longer and is starting to show her personality. I love her so much!

We have 2 gift gards (from 2 different photographers) to get our family pix taken. I'm trying to decide if we should do fall pix or Christmas pix, what clothes to wear, when to do this, can I lose 20 more lbs before then, can we all buy new outfits to wear, etc...etc...

Afterthoughts pt. 2

These 3 weeks have flown by. I go back to teach one week from today. Every time I think about it, I start to freak out. I just can't imagine leaving Presley right now. Next Friday is going to be rough. Some more post-pardom thoughts-

• Nurses ROCK! I've had the best nurses with all 3 births. Our nurses in the operating room were amazing. The recovery nurse was wonderful. And all of the post-pardom nurses were great!


• I don't know why I didn't get one of these before. Kevin's mom made this and I LOVE it! I'm going to buy more fabric this weekend, so she can make more.
  


• We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family. We've gotten clothes, meals, gift cards, diapers, gifts for the older sisters, money, and offers to watch Avery and McKenna, so Presley and I could rest. Thanks so much! One of my favorite gifts, the one that caught me off guard, was the new Steven Curtis Chapman Cd. Every time I listen to Cinderella, I start to cry. I don't know how SCC can get through that song without breaking.


• This has been quite an adjustment to our family. It's been almost 4 years since we've had a baby in the house, 24/7. The older girls have had there moments, but overall, they're doing very well. We're working on a new routine. Trying to figure out what the new normal is for our family.


• My emotions have been all over the place. I don't remember being so emotional with the other 2 (except when it was time to go back to work)
  


• I would do it again in a heartbeat! The thought of Presley being the last one makes me sad. I'd probably even have another C-section. (We haven't gotten the medical bill yet, though) The first week afterwards is definitely the WORST, I've never been in that much pain before, but it's temporary. And there was no pain before or during the surgery.
  

We have a big day planned tomorrow-our family is going to a pumpkin patch! The girls are so excited. We're going to have pumpkin donuts in the morning and I searched online for pumpkin soup recipes to make tomorrow night. And Kevin has big plans for carving pumpkins to look like the characters from the Wizard of Oz. Should be fun! I love fall-

Quote of the week

Kevin was holding Presley the other day. McKenna walks into the room and says,

"Did Mom say you could hold her?"

What is something funny your kid has said this week?

Missing Reese's Pieces

This is Reese and her mom at the pumpkin patch last week-

For the last 9 months or so, I've had the wonderful opportunity to watch my niece, Reese, during the day while my sister-Marla-works. She's been at my house hundreds of times and I've helped take care of her since she was 2 months old. Her cousins-Avery and McKenna- would get up early and open the front door, waiting for Reese to come every morning.

In August, we all realized that it might not be possible for me to continue to take care of her after Presley was born. God knew this, too. Within weeks, Marla was offered a work at home position with the company she currently works at. I don't think we could have asked for a better situation.

I miss Reese. I miss her crawling over to me when she's tired of her cousins picking on her. I miss having to divert her attention away from the dog's water bowl a 100 times a day. I miss seeing her brown eyes in the morning, probably wondering why she's at Aunt Shell's house, again. I just miss her.

I still see her, just not as much. I'm so thankful, however, that we live so close to her. That my kids will get to grow up with their cousin. That they'll get to play together, fight with each other, learn about God and life together. We are very fortunate to live so close to family during this time. And I'm glad that Presley will have not only big sisters to look up to, but a big cousin, as well.

Jewelry giveaway!

Small notebook is giving away a piece of jewelry to one lucky person. Go here to sign up and see more.

PTL!

Presley gained 3 oz since last Wednesday! She's still not up to her birth weight, but we're rejoicing the fact that's she's gaining now and not losing. We weigh her again next Monday.

We started school up again yesterday. It was a long day! Kevin's mom is making me a sling for Presley, and I'm quickly realizing I need it, like, yesterday. Presley loves to be held and I love to hold her. But, for some reason, I need my arms to do school and carry stuff up and down the stairs. Go figure! I made my first meal in 2 weeks last night, too. Green chili enchiladas-and Presley doesn't have an upset stomach. I'm thankful for that too. Kevin got firewood last Saturday, and the girls have been asking for a fire ever since. He made one last night. The AC kicked on 10 minutes later. The atmosphere was nice, though. I'm excited about the changing seasons. It came so fast-I wore shorts to the hospital to have Presley 2 weeks ago and today I'm wearing sweats! Time to make the chex mix and get ready for the holidays!!!!!!

Weight Watchers

Presley was born weighing 8 lbs. 3 oz. She was over a pound bigger than her 2 older sisters were when they were born. Since her birth, however, she's been slowly losing weight. She eats well, I'm making enough milk for her, she's not a fussy baby, her color is good, etc... We don't know why she's not gaining weight. We're still waiting for the initial blood tests to come back before we do anything. She goes back to the dr. to be weighed again on Monday. Right now, we're simply praying that she would gain weight. Kevin and I would appreciate your prayers for Presley these next few days.

Prayer and Pastor thoughts

One of the blogs I read is from a pastor's wife in North Carolina. She's recently done a series of posts on how to pray-for your pastor, your church staff, and your pastor's wife. I'm hoping the next one will be about praying for pastor's kids, we'll have to wait and see/read. As a grown up pk, I appreciate her thoughts and ideas on how to pray for church leaders.

Most people have no clue what the pastor and his family go through on a day to day basis. The pastor's family has to share their husband and dad with the whole church and community, whether we want to or not. I remember, as a kid and young adult (and now), wondering what church crisis would happen when our family is planning something, like going on vacation, getting married, school recitals, concerts, etc. It never fails. Someone dies, someone is in the hospital, some important meeting or service, someone needs help. I can't put my personal thoughts on this in any type of stucture, nor can I eloquently write (or should write) what I think most of the time. Holly's posts were a good read for anyone in the church, and a reminder to pray for those in leadership, all of the time, not just during pastor appreciation month.

http://www.hollyfurtick.com/

Girly thoughts

Abby has adjusted very well to the new addition to our family. She shares her part of our bed and tolerates Presley's loud cries. Wherever Presley is, Abby is nearby. She doesn't look thrilled with me taking pix of her, though...

My wonderful husband had to go back to work this week. I miss him every minute. I got so spoiled with him being home last week. Grandma Keating came to help with the girls. She ended up taking the 2 older ones back to Abilene for a few days. They bought Sleeping Beauty yesterday and are so excited to watch it.
I feel soooooo much better now. Not ready to tackle the dishwasher and laundry yet, though. I'm wondering how much longer I can put those chores off. The pain is minimal. Nursing doesn't hurt near as much. I just get tired easily. Right now, I'm just so thankful that most of the pain is gone and I can think about other things than when can I take another percocet. Here is my sleeping beauty. She slept in her cradle for a whopping 15 minutes before she realized no one was holding her and started screaming. Presley doesn't like being left alone. And she hates lying on her back. The 1st night we were home, she (tried to) sleep in her cradle. It was a very LONG night. Since then, Kevin and I decided sleep was more important than establishing boundaries, so she's been propped up in her boppy on our bed in between us. For those of you who know us well, feel free to laugh. We don't care anymore. We like our sleep! She has slept very well since. I feed her at 10pm-she usually wakes up to eat between 2-3am and then again around 7am. Monday night was the first time I ate Mexican food. That was the only night she woke up more than usual. I guess that will be cut from my menu for awhile.

Avery lost her 2nd tooth last week. Here she is, showing her gap. She is enjoying "Fall break" from school. We (plan to) start up again next week. She loves holding Presley and is an awesome big sister!

McKenna is our diaper queen, she gets us diapers and puts the dirty ones in the trash. She is a huge help and is very interested in the whole "God designed mommies to make milk for the baby" issue. She is always asking if God made the milk for Presley yet. lol...

Here she is, showing off her new jewelry she got from a group of Friends employees. We have been overwhelmed with the generosity of our friends and family. Thank you so much for all you've done for our family, and for including the 2 older girls in your gifts.

Grades for giving

Tim Stevens wrote a couple of posts in the last week or so that were interesting reads. He compared the giving records of the presidential candidates.

http://www.leadingsmart.com/leadingsmart/2008/09/joe-biden-ticks.html

http://www.leadingsmart.com/leadingsmart/2008/10/follow-up-to-pr.html

Is this important in choosing a leader for our country? I think so...

Afterthoughts part 1

Several thoughts keep coming to mind as I process the events of the last week. Some things we forget from pregnancy to pregnancy for a reason. Otherwise, there would be a lot of "only" children.

• true maternity leave only happens w/ the first child


• Breastfeeding really hurts the first week. I mean REALLY hurts.


• it's amazing how much you can love a person (baby) you've just met


• I know it was hard recovering from a "normal" delivery, but c-section recovery sucks


• it's difficult to realize that the pain is temporary


• I cry alot, over silly things


• I have the most amazing husband in the world. I can't imagine going through this without him. He is incredible. I am so blessed to be his wife.

Party of 5

Presley Faith Osborn was born last Friday, September 26, at 5:45pm. 8lbs 3oz. and 19 in. long. She is perfect in every way.