Photos

A couple of newborn pics and other random pics.  I am not very chatty today apparently so I thought I would at least post pictures. :)

Life goes so fast, don't waste one minute of it!!!  Babies grow up and we can never go back in time so enjoy the blessings God has given you!!  (I am looking in the mirror as I type this.:)

Dr. Appointment

Today I took Joslyn to the doctor for a well baby check, basically just to weigh her and listen to her heart again.  She is growing like a weed, only way cuter and I don't want to pull her and throw her away.  Wow, I am a little chatty, I should be in bed, it is 12:16 am!  ANYWAY, she weighed 9lbs. 12oz. today.  She loves her milk, she is the easiest baby to nurse.  And even better, the doctor listened to her heart for a while but never heard the PAC beats!!  Yay!!  She said that sometimes they completely grow out of it or it at least happens less frequently as they get older.  She is perfect!!  Anyway, now that she is peacefully sleeping on me, I am going to go to bed and maybe next time I post, I will be coherent. :)

6 Years

I am married to the most wonderful, amazing man!!  He always makes me laugh, he is a wonderful, loving father, he can do or fix anything, he is kind and compassionate, and most importantly he has a heart after God!  Today is six years!!  I can hardly believe it!  It didn't start out bad but, every year has definitely gotten better, we have grown closer and closer and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with my loving husband!  Here are some fun facts about our marriage:  married 6 years
                       pregnant for 3 of those years
                       nursing for 2 of those years
                       have 5 kids
                       only slightly tired :)
We were going to go out on a date tonight.  Were being the key word.  Due to 3 of our children being sick since Saturday, that won't be happening.  My mom is wonderful though, and she has the oldest four at her house today, so it is just me and Joslyn at home!!  I almost don't know what to do with myself.  Hence the reason I am finally able to sit down and blog.:)  The three--Gage, Everett and Hadyn) are down to only having diarrhea instead of vomiting too.  They are playing better too.  Gage spent 5 days laying on the couch looking miserable!!  Not fun!!  Anyway, I am glad they are finally feeling better and I am extremely grateful for normally healthy children!   

Happy Anniversary to the man of my dreams!!  I love you Tim!!

Joslyn Rayna

Meet the newest member of our family:  Joslyn Rayna Bender!!  She was born June 24th at 7:35 pm.  She weighed 6 lbs. 15.6oz. and was 21 1/4 in. long.  She came out pink and crying which was reassuring and an answer to prayers.  Okay so I will back up.....Thursday the 24th started as any other day.  I had a massage and a dr's appt. so my mom came to watch my kids at our house.  I went to my massage first and then to my routine dr's appt.  Everything was normal until the dr. listened to the heartbeat and I could hear it right away. The baby had heart arrhythmia.  Basically the heart rate was very irregular.  She told me not to panic, leave the office, call my husband and freak out (almost her exact words).  I said I am fine and I won't freak out.  So, I only halfway freaked out. :)  She said it might be nothing but that I needed to go to Mercy Hospital right away and do a non-stress test and an ultrasound.  So I walked into the hospital and right away all the nurses remembered me, from the twins, and were very caring.  The ultrasound showed that structurally the heart looked perfect.  Good!!  Her heart rate was still very irregular and it would drop from 150 to 50!  Not good!!  Nobody knew for sure what to do so they decided to break my water.  I called Tim and in less than 30 minutes he was standing at my side (it generally takes longer to get to the hospital than that, let alone parked and inside:).  They broke my water at 12:45pm.  The doctor wasn't sure if it was safe to let me labor naturally so she wanted to do a c-section or send me over to the University and have them monitor me more closely.  The baby was going to go to the University NICU either way so we decided to head over and try to deliver naturally.  I got my first (and hopefully last) ambulance ride with sirens and lights going.  I was very glad my contractions weren't very strong yet.  They aren't kidding when they say, "it's a bumpy ride."  My nurse from Mercy got to ride over with me so she could keep tabs on the baby's heart rate.  She was wonderful!  After we got to the U the pediatric cardiologist reassured us that this was fairly common (in his world) and that the baby would most likely be perfectly healthy.  So at approximately 7 hours after they broke my water, we welcomed beautiful baby Josyln Rayna into this world!!  I was so grateful to be able to deliver her naturally and without any drugs.  (Although I struggled with being grateful for about the last 45 minutes of it:)  They took her to the NICU soon after her birth and kept her there over night and part of the next day just to monitor her heart rate.  She has what they call PACs--premature atrial contractions.  Basically her heart skips every third or fourth beat when in this mode.  It happens less than 20 percent which is apparently okay.  The peds cardiologist said if it is more than 20 percent than they are worried otherwise she is fine and will be normal.  We have an appointment for an EKG at the beginning of August to make sure nothing has changed. 

We think she is perfect in every way!

 Daddy is in love, once again!

 The boys absolutely adore her!!!  Gage kept saying, " She's so cute!"  They couldn't wait to bring her home.

    We love you Joslyn Rayna!! 

Birthdays and Fevers

I am now 2 days late on posting about the twins turning 1!!!  We had a party for them on Wednesday night and we are doing another party tonight along with their cousin Titus who turns 6!  So tomorrow I will post with pictures.  :)  

Yesterday morning, Gage woke up with a fever of 103.3.  By last evening it had spiked to 106.1!!!  We immediately gave him Motrin and a bath and that helped.  The fever seem to break some through the night, it went down to 100.7.  Then this morning it was back up to 104.  His throat is really sore but the strep test came back negative so it is just a virus and we are waiting it out and praying that his fever stays below 104.  We would appreciate your prayers too!  

It All Began Five Years Ago.....

....this last wednesday when we welcomed our precious, firstborn son into this world.  And so our family began to grow (and has yet to stop growing:).  Our lives have never been the same, we have been challenged, changed and molded beyond anything we could have imagined!!  Happy Birthday to our dear, wonderful son, Reese!!  When he was born, I couldn't imagine the day that he would start school and now that is just around the corner!  On wednesday we had a party for him complete with his requested dinosaur cake.

 It's not perfect, but he thought it was cool.:)  His grandparents, great-grandmas and cousins came over to help him celebrate.  

 

He got a cool Hawk-eye shirt and football from Aunt Kim and his cousins.  

 
 

A lamp that he got from Grandma Slabaugh along with a milk truck that he immediately said was a "creamery truck."  (Tim works at a creamery.)

He received many other gifts that required Mommy's assistance and so for the rest of the week we played games, built a tow truck with lego's, made sandwiches and other things out of Bendaroo's, and played with Moon Sand.

 
 

Looks yummy, huh!?!

 
 

Moon Sand--Fun Stuff!!

Not for Babies!!!!!

Thank-you to all family and friends who have helped or contributed in some way over the last five years in Reese's life.  Thank-you also to God for giving us such a beautiful and miraculous gift in our son, Reese.  We love you so much, Reese and we look forward to the next five years and beyond!!  

 

Bible Study and The Twins

A couple of weeks ago, I started a Beth Moore Bible Study, titled "Living Beyond Yourself."  It is centered on being filled with the Holy Spirit and living Spirit-filled lives.  I am privileged to do with some of my dearest friends and every week I look forward to getting together with them and being able to share our struggles, our God stops with each other and encouraging and lifting each other up.  We also have 5 days of homework we are supposed to complete each week and that is also something I look forward to.  This morning one of the verses she had us read was Philippians 2:13--"For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him."  I have read that verse before but it really hit me this morning that we cannot, no matter how much we try, please or obey God in our own power.  Sometimes I know that I should or should not do something, but I have no desire to obey and do it or not do it, as the case may be.  It is awesome that He will actually give us the desire to obey Him in everything!   

On a different note, yesterday was a lazy, stay in your pajamas all day, sort of day.  Here are some pictures to prove it.  Not of me though, you don't want to see that. :)  I love the pj's that Hadyn has on!  It makes me want to be little and wear fun pj's again. :)

Hello?

 Miss Cheesy!!!

 Big Brother Love!!

 

 

This was taken as he was crawling at me and the next second there were tiny fingerprints all over the front of my lens.:)

One last little story to amuse you:  Right after Gage woke up in the morning, he was sitting on the couch and in a very whiny voice he asked me if he could watch a movie.  I said that no he couldn't and that whining was not going to get him a movie.  So immediately his tone changed and he asked, "Is this going to get me a movie?"  I had to laugh and so he laughed and then asked, "Is laughing going to get me a movie?"  I still said no but I had a good chuckle out of it!:)  It amazes me how quickly he catches on to things!  A challenge to all of the mothers out there:  WRITE DOWN THE FUNNY THINGS YOUR KIDS SAY!!!  I am trying but still forget sometimes.  Hope you all have a blessed day!!