The Baby Blues

     Ugh... The baby blues. I put them right up there with the awfulness of labor itself. And they get worse with each subsequent baby. They, along with the thought of another miserable pregnancy and labor, tempt me to ask God to be done with me in the baby making department. Surely there's another use for me! I mean surely!
     I think 90% of my emotional drama is none other than- you guessed it- Jim! The thoughts of not having him here with me to keep things focused and on task just drive me batty! The doubts of not being able to actually do anything outside my house, in civilization makes up the rest. I don't think I'd be able to breath without my BFF right by my side! My emotions have been so rampant this week, the night before he was to return to work, I gave him permission to snore! {not that he needs my permission, he freely does it every other night!} but I wanted him to know that I'd rather have his snoring skinny-legged self than not have him at all... Yah he was just going back to work 10 minutes from our house, not the moon, but seriously, at that point, to me, he was already strapped to the rocket and headed to the moon- forever! Yes, I know, I'm nuts, but this is what having babies does to you!
     I know, I know, this too shall pass, I have survived it twice before, I'm not gonna die over it. However, I might die from dehydration from all the tears. But as long as I stay in the Word, curling up in my Father's lap for His peace and not shutting myself off from my friends and life beyond these four walls- I'll live!

     And yes, Jim did snore that night! I thanked God for keeping him breathing, then kicked him in his skinny leg to shush him up. Ooh, that sounds mean when I read it. Really it was more of a nudge.

~~Sweet Carrie Ann~~

     I had every intention of writing this during my little mini-vacation in the hospital, but I didn't even turn my computer on until the day before yesterday. It's been a whirlwind this last week and by now, Carrie Ann is a week old. Here's how it all started out!
     Monday morning started like many other mornings over the last few weeks...waking up to contractions at an obscene hour in the morning, {3:38 on this particular morning, to be exact} timing them, and then finally heading to the tub to soak to see if they would go away. On this particular morning, however, they did not go away, they just slowed down. They were very sporadic, going from 15 minutes, to 6, to 3, then back to 8 minutes apart. By the time Jim was ready to leave for work, I felt awful, had straigtened up the entire house, made all the beds and had Carrie Ann's and my bags packed and sitting on the foot of the bed. As Jim put on his tie, I sat in the bedroom floor, folding a load of laundry and through tears, told him I was DONE! That I couldn't take not having any sleep, I was done with pregnancy, I hurt, I was miserable and I miss getting to be all that I could be to the boys. {sounds like an army ad!} I was giving up having painful contractions that seemed to me to be in vain. I had a doctor's visit scheduled for later that morning and I asked him if it was alright if I asked the doc to induce me if I wasn't in labor...seeing my bags packed and my pitiful self almost in tears, he abliged!
     When dropping the boys off at our friend's house, I cried as I drove away, thinking that I might not see them for the rest of the day. Low and behold...I really was in labor! See, not every pregnancy is the same! I had dilated to 2cm and had every other signal that labor had begun, so to the hospital I went! Nervous, anxious and scared to death. Doc told me not to go get Jim, go straight to hospital to get IV started and all the other drugs that speed along labor...Guess she was thinking I would go fast since it was my third baby to send down the shute.
     At 11:30 I got my IV...bunch of fluid the epidural guy wants you to have so you don't dehydrate or something. Then they started the P-tocin {sp?} At 12:30 the doc came in to break my water and from that point on...I wanted to die! Literally!
    I had to intake the entire bag of fluid before I could get my much anticipated epidural and I must say, it wasn't an easy-peasy wait like I had planned! To help me along in my pain, my nurse gave me Stadol...all I knew is that it was a narcotic, it would not take away the pain, but  it would help me not care about it.....All I got to say is...now I know how people can get hooked to pain meds....not sure why they would want to feel like that all the time, but oh my goodness was I so incredibly loopy, beyond the normal point.
     When the epidural guy got there, oh, was I ever glad to see him, he said...oh, we'll give you this such and such type of epidural...you'll go fast...third delivery...yah, gotta get it started quick...sign your life away right here and by the way, this is our student epidural guy right here, he'll be administering this such and such type of epidural today...okay, let's get started....Remember, I'm on Stadol...and thought I was dying....next thing I hear is, tell me if you feel a shock....ouch!!! I did! Oops, sorry, I hit a blood vessel. Oops? OH MY WORD....I know at some point I asked the student epidural guy what was taking so long...he seemed to be taking forever...he responded--you have some tough ligaments back here...Yah right dude...get on with it! We were great friends by the time the such and such type epidural began and I had forgiven him for hitting a blood vessel...I even had the nurse take a pic for you to see the student epidural guy's nice handy work! {really, thinking that this might be my last pregnancy ever, I wanted to make sure I remember it all}

     Finally, relief!!! I could relax!!!

     Ya'll this was like two hours after the doc had broken my water...in the mean time, I threw up, heart rates went up and down, a lot. I actually had to use that pink pan.

     As long as it was, I do have to say, it was one of the more relaxing sweet, deliveries I've had. There was just the doc and my nurse and just before Carrie Ann came, her own nurse came in. Then there was Jim, my friend Melissa and my mom.  Now, Melissa has a super duper camera and took some pictures to document this for me...I mean, she really captured the essence of labor and delivery! I am so glad I got my hand on the delete button before Jim saw any of the pics.  

     The star of the show took her own little time coming out. She was turned face up and when I began pushing at 5:30 p.m., she had no intentions of budging below some bone of mine.  When I had no energy or grunt left to push, the nurse and doc tied two knots in a sheet and we played tug-of-war...really...the nurse pulled one end and I the other with each contraction. I pushed every minute or so for like 55 minutes before the doc was able to get Carrie Ann turned face down and wouldn't you know it, once she was turned, she came out with only 2 contractions...go figure!

Beautiful, I know, but gross.

Carrie Ann Marie Brown, born Monday, February 1, 2010, 6:26 p.m.

7 pounds, 7 ounces and 18 inches long

 

 

 

I survived! 

And look a there!

 

We're home...today Carrie Ann is 1 week old, sleeping and eating well. My lovely varicose veins are taking their precious time leaving, with all that pushing and stuff, so I am healing, resting and enjoying my very blessed little family.

I was one of Dr. Turner's first patients here in Tupelo. I am so blessed to have had her deliver all three of my precious babies.

 

 

 

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement throughout this pregnancy, labor & delivery and the time since. We covet more of your prayers as we enjoy this new glass of lemonade the Lord has made for us!

  

 

Whew...It's been a busy last 7 days.....

I'm sorry...I had to take a short break from the Lemonade Stand. But, oh, how I have needed it's releasing powers! We've had a busy last seven days....to start, last Saturday, we

Completely Re-Did the playroom (it's not finished...we got interrupted)

Before:

After:

On Sunday, I successfully made a chocolate pie! (tutorial to come)

Then on Monday...February 1, 2010 at 6:26 p.m., God blessed us with this precious little girl--

Carrie Ann Marie Brown

Weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 18 inches long.

This little girl took her time, and no matter what anyone tells you, just because it's your third delivery doesn't mean it will happen any faster! Needless to say, after a 14 hour labor and pushing this daisy out for an hour, I am still exhausted, still healing and still crying my eyes out! So between nursing, sore everything, Taylor & Andrew (who love her to death), staying close to my Father, trying to sleep and a thousand visitors (which I've really needed and enjoyed), I am slowly getting my story together! It'll be here before you know it! Til then, enjoy these pics I've captured over Carrie Ann's first few days!

Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging words...keep 'em coming!!!

Easy-Peasy Labor Delivery (I pray)

     The massage therapist laughingly said, "Candise, it's sad that you are looking forward to labor, just for the break!"
     Some of you might be thinking...she is soooo impatient, that  baby girl will come when God is ready for her to come. I agree, you are exactly right!
     However, I will elaborate a little on why I am ready for this precious little gift to be here!
     First of all, I've been having contractions on and off and sometimes for an entire day since week 34...I am a week and half from my due date today and have only progressed to 1cm...She's at the -2 station so she's entered my pelvis thingy and therefore preventing me from bending, walking or sleeping like any normal person. If I am going to be in this much pain, I want it to be for something...seems like we are getting nowhere!

     Then, I am definitely looking forward to that break! Yes, I am actually looking forward to labor!!! It's our third time around, we know what to expect. The decision for pain management has been made for me, eliminating the stress of knowing I will have to make that decision. My plan {God might have different plans, but I am praying we are on the same page} is to labor at home til a certain point, then head to the hospital...get shot up with a sweet epidural and then relax! Easy-Peasy-Lemon Squeezy...maybe I'll even get a nap in! ha....then, that precious little girl will come and we'll be in the hospital for a few days, peace! ahhhh....The amount of chaos and noise that goes on in a delivery room and the few days that follow are no where near the activity that goes on at my house on any given day! Then, once we go home, Jim will be home for a week, loving on his favorite little boys like no one else can and I can just relax and enjoy my little girl. Like our little mini-sleeples-vacation!

     And finally, a lot of my impatience is simply due to anxiousness in meeting this little girl. We can't wait to see who she is going to look like, Jim or me! Taylor is the spitting image of Jim (with my personality), Andrew has a few of my traits, complexion, eyes, but looks a lot like his brother (with Jim's personality). Now get this...if Carrie Ann comes out with a head full of dark brown hair---you are for sure to hear about it! I'm the odd ball out in my family, being the only Filipino (half). I don't look like anyone I know or that I am related to. Andrew's my closest resemblance, and well, he's a boy! 
    So maybe now you can see that I have the same anxieties and reasons most of us have when we are trying to speed up labor and delivery.
     Today we finally got to finish the playroom. Only have to get our chair and do wall accessories. I'm keeping the laundry caught up, just in case we are caught off guard. The boys' lovebugs are on pins and needles, texting everyday wanting to know how we are doing.
     I'm headed back to see the doc on Monday, and on Wednesday, CA will be 39 weeks and at that point the doc will do what she can to help speed things along.
     I have a million blog posts that are just waiting to be jotted down....i.e. recipes, Cooking Club, my boys!!! Stuff like that. Pray for us as we head into this, the final stretch. We will be a family of 5 in the next few days or so and we are beside ourselves, anxious, tired and a little exhausted as well.

Cheerful laugh for the day!

Another perk of pregnancy I will miss...my own personal little food tray!

Due South Designs of Atlanta: GRAND OPENING GIVEAWAY!!

Hey Ya'll!!! Check out my friend Rachael's new website for her monogramming, appliques and vinyl business..... She's having a Grand Opening Giveaway too!!!!! Make sure you top by and see what all she's got!!!!

Due South Designs of Atlanta: GRAND OPENING GIVEAWAY!!

3 things I WILL miss after pregnancy

     Okay, maybe 4...or 5!

1.   I will definitely miss keeping Carrie Ann so safe...well as safe as a mother of 2 toddlers can! I've only fallen 3 times.  I'll miss taking the Lord's Supper while pregnant...I've gotten emotional everytime we do this at church while I am pregnant, knowing that this will be the last time they get to partake until they are Believers....I think too much!
2.  Sympathy votes...people are prejudice towards pregnant ladies...most of the time...there are exceptions to this, but I remember sticking out my barely 6 month pregnant belly as far as I could to the parking guard at the Nashville marathon in hopes that he would feel sorry for me and let me park up next to the stadium...it worked...or when you are in LensCrafters and they break your glasses and you burst into tears and they want to do whatever they can to make the pregnant woman feel better and to stop spewing like a hydrant so in a tizzy they give you 50% off a new set of lenses and frames.
3.  I will definitely miss the extra 3 seconds the big belly bump allows you to add to the 5 second rule...you know, the food falls, hits the bump, bounces, goes air bound and then....the 5 seconds begin!!!
4.  Sucking in my stomach to make people think I actually do ab workouts like my husband!
5.  The great excuse for everything that goes awry....oh..officer, I'm pregnant and I think my water just broke, or yes, Insurance agent, I forgot to pay our insurance this month, did you know I was pregnant? and then the very next month... Jim says-hey hun, got a call from ins. agent...said you paid the insurance twice this month...hey honey, why is there a gallon of milk in the pantry? CANDISE!!!!....upon monitoring our online banking...YOU PAID OUR MORTGAGE TWICE THIS MONTH... to which I respond, shocked myself--I'm sorry Jim, it was a tough day, being pregnant and all!--gotta use the pouty lips with this one and it usually helps if you are looking pretty cute at the time too!

Five Things

I  don't read, nor do I send forwards, but my super chic and stylish pregnant college friend Sally tagged me on her blog and I thought I'd waste some perfectly good napping time with you!
Five Things

Instructions:

Answer 5 questions with 5 answerss
Tag 5 other bloggers

Questions:

1. Where were you 10 years ago?

--In my spring semester of my freshman year of college at Hinds Community College in Raymond, MS.
--Lost as a goose when it came to my salvation.
--Insecure in who I was, appearance and eternity.
--In a dead end relationship with a guy that was going no where fast.
--I was all into ME...a cute little community college cheerleader who seriously needed a reality check.

2. What is on your TO DO list for today?
--Go grocery shopping {check}
--Shop for a diaper bag for Carrie Ann {check}
--Pack hospital bag.
--Hang Carrie Ann's ballet slippers up in her room.
--Cook supper.

3. What 5 snacks do you enjoy?
--Double Stuf Oreos.
--Cheese and Crackers
--Grapes
--A chunk of raw cookie dough
--A cheese stick....beginning to see where my weight comes from!

4. Where are 5 places you have lived?
--Tupelo, Mississippi...this is our second time to live here.
--Falls Church, Virginia...when Jim worked on Capitol Hill
--Okolona, MS....after college, with my mom, until I married Jim and moved to Tupelo, the first time.
--Columbus, MS...The W!
--Clinton, MS....the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college.

5. Name 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire.
--Fund and financially support Centerpoint Church in Annapolis, MD, and FFC counseling center here in Tupelo and our missionary friends who are in California and all over the rest of the world through the IMB.
--Buy Jim's parents a new house, just down the road from us.--
--Buy my sister and her family a house, preferrably near me, but we'd get them a car too.
--Set up college funds {annuities probably, since that is what Jim does} for our children.
--Get a house on the beach so we didn't have to ever search through beach house rentals ever again!

Now I am tagging:
--Amanda of Refelctions by Amanda
--Amanda at Colby Michael Jones (who at this very moment, January 22nd, 2010 is in the hospital having her second son, Chase)
--Lesli at a les than ordinary life
--Cris at The Curry's
--April at A Day in the Life of All of Us

Trash to Treasure in my Bathroom!

     When we were picking the colors for the rooms in our new house back in May 2008, we made a purpose to not be afraid of color. We were fearless! Every wall is a different color and we just recently added our fifth shade of blue to an accent wall in the boys' new room. I got one room of my very own to girlify...our master bath. Pink was totally out...Jim's rule, so I picked red. It's a pretty dark, lipstick red. Too bad the painters used flat paint {don't get me started on that}. I wanted a spa-like master bath...Candles all around, warm and sweet aromas, relaxing...feminine. Here's what I ended up with!

It's not that bad actually...

The picture is the Millennial Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee. It was a wedding gift from our pastor...his brother took the picture on one of his many trips to the Holy Land and Brother David had made this particular print into a poster. It's one of Jim's favorite pics. Above the jacuzzi tub, directly opposite our french doors that overlook our back yard and small lake, it's kind of perfect.

The curtains were a great find on the Walmart $1 stack of fabrics. I bought 9 yards of this shear material and attached it to a spring rod I already had. Nine bucks was worth the sad attempt to spa-ify my master bath!

But look what it has turned into! This is where the boys prefer to take their bath...it's a big tub, that's why I like it too. Jim's smelly running clothes have found their home in here as they await their turn in the washing machine. My pretty red flower, you know, the one that got stolen off my back porch {here}, used to sit on the back left corner. It has been replaced with dolphins, sharks, boats and dinosaurs.

It's sad, I know.

Can you imagine the thoughts and ideas that literally raced through my brown-eyed head when I spotted this marketing print in a local department store!!!

I stalked that store for a month waiting for their graphics to be changed and this master piece to be tossed to the side!!!

Well, yesterday was trash day for them and treasure day for me!!!

I absolutely love the Sea of Galilee picture, but no one ever sees the pretty thing in our bathroom except for us. I have better plans for it.

This picture is perfect for this room.

Doesn't it add a certain spa-like ambiance!!!

Here it is at a different angle, just in case you just don't get it yet...

I called Jim in, so excited to show him.

He looked....sigh....turned to the Sea of Galilee picture I had placed in our bedroom and said, I like that one better. I mean, that's just a canvas on the wall. I don't like it. {Shhh...he doesn't know that it's really a reallly thick plastic, might sound worse to him}

What do you think of my trash to treasure find?

Just to make you smile!

Just thought I would share some cute shots of Andrew in the Lion suit today during playgroup.

No, he doesn't have on any pants...he had on just a shirt and diaper all day because he soaked his pants earlier in the morning and I just washed all his clothes and didn't want to dirty anything else...and lazy too!  Jim will think I'm so redneck!

Andrew is very photogenic...he knows when I say cheese, to smile and pose for the camera...guess he's used to it!

He's missing a sock, too, I see...and yes, that's my other son behind him in the half-matching Packer's helmet and blue pants! What a crew I have!

Girlified!

     I'm all about re-using whatever baby boy items I have accumulated over the last 3 and a half years. So ever since learning that our third little sports star was going to be a girl, I've been hard at work re-inventing! Not sure where or when I got this little hat, but it's quite tiny and since both my boys were born in the dead of summer, there hasn't been much of a need for it.

I know, I was thinking the same thing...It's perfect for Carrie Ann...being that she will be born between today and February 10th!

It was missing something though, when she is tiny enough to wear this hat, she will still look like a scrunched up alien and hard to differentiate from a male scrunched up alien, so I found this piece of pink satin ribbon in my craft closet tonight and got a little crafty!!!

I weaved the ribbon in and out of the crocheted cuff of the hat. I taped the end of the ribbon to help guide it through, making sure to keep the ribbon from twisting along the way.

I tied off the end of the ribbon in a square knot and cut the ravelled ends at an angle.

When I actually do pack that hospital bag, this darling little hat will definitely make it's way in!