The Story of Paisley

4 Weeks ago...Sunday, August 12, 2012 little Paisley Nicole came into our lives.  Our family will be forever changed in so many ways.  Here is the story...not only to share but for me to document, as I'm sure I will forget some details as time goes on!

5:00am~ Woke up to some pretty consistent contractions.  Although they weren't painful, I had a feeling it was the day and decided to stay home from church.  Scott felt bad going and leaving me home so he stayed home with me.  He had people in place for the services in case this would happen.

9:00am~ Contractions started to taper off.  Getting less frequent and shorter in length.  I started to get frustrated because this was the 4th day that week that this had happened.  I need a boost to keep them going.  Scott asked "do you want me to go to Walmart and get Castor Oil"  I said, "YES!"  I had taken the natural laxative with Davis when I had been contracting for days and it worked.  It was worth a try!

10:00am~ Drank 3TBLS of Castor Oil with OJ.  We took a nap then took a walk

1:00pm~ Contractions started again.  Still not painful but consistent.  About every 5-6 minutes

3:00pm~  Took a walk and contractions started getting harder and longer in length

4:00pm~  I remember doing the dishes in the kitchen and a pretty hard contraction hit.  I must have sounded in pain because Scott was outside the kitchen window and asked "are you going to call the midwife?"  

5:00 pm~  Called Laura, our midwife.  She asked if she should hurry.  I think I told her not to speed here but if she was here in the next hour or so, that would be fine.

6:15pm~ Laura got to our house and checked me.  I was dilated to 3cm.  She knew that it would be that night and started setting up her supplies. I labored in my bedroom for about an hour.

7:30pm~ I decided that I might be more comfortable in my bath tub.  

I didn't intend to deliver there but once I got in, I didn't want to get out.

8:30pm~ I felt the urge to push.

9:07pm~ Paisley Nicole entered the world.  She never cried.  She started breathing as soon as Scott pulled her out of the water (yes, the midwife coached Scott and he was able to deliver her).  She layed on my chest for about a half hour.  It was very peaceful and natural, one of the best parts of my home birth.  

Paisley weighed 8lb 4oz and was 21.5 in. long

 Paisley was born with a lot of thick white vernix.  Most babies that go full term don't have this because it dissolves into their skin closer to their due date.  I did deliver 8 days early but with her being 8lb 4oz that early, I can't imagine delivering a baby much bigger! The midwives encouraged us to leave the vernix on her skin.  It served as a moisturizer and to this day, she has never peeled and has beautiful skin.

 Big brothers checking her out

A friend had the boys for the day.  She brought them home to meet their baby sister.  We all went to bed in our own beds and slept in the next morning.  That too was another highlight of having a home birth.  Paisley is a wonderful baby.  She has slept great almost every night since she was born.  The Lord knows this momma needs her sleep! People are amazed at that and I assure them that the boys didn't do that so it's nothing that I am doing! Overall it was a wonderful experience.  I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with another child.  Our heart's desire is to raise little Paisley to love and serve our Savior.

I think we are ready!

July is flying by!  I'm only 3 1/2 weeks til my due date but am experiencing a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions so I'm wondering if this baby girl is going to make her appearance early.  Here's to hoping!  A little before the first day of school would be wonderful! (sorry for the blurry pic, the only one around was Davis to snap a pic:)

Baby Girl's "area" is ready upstairs in the landing.  We will wait to move the boys around for her to have a room until she is sleeping mostly through the night.  Scott was big help painting the landing as well as the floor.  I found and painted this adorable dresser and some dear friends let us borrow their crib.  

Yes, this basket is all head bands, hats and bows!  Oh what fun this will be:)

I made this for my sister over 10 years ago.  She graciously gave it to me to use.  Who would have thought!

 This old wool blanket on the left was mine when I was a baby and the other was given to me by my cousin. Love vintage baby things!

  

I have some more plans for the room when she moves into one, but for now...I think we are ready.  Clothes are washed, pacifiers are purchased, diapers are collected, birthing supplies are gathered and most importantly a name has been agreed on.  

Can't believe it's almost here!

New for June

June has consisted of fun, sun and relaxing.  I love summer.  I love having everyone home and being able to be outside. We planted a huge garden which is coming along quite nicely.  Here are a few snapshots of what June has looked like so far.

1. Growing Belly!  Baby Girl is growing:)  

I was told I was suppose to plant the watermelon...not eat it whole!

2. Happy 17th Anniversary to us.  We were able to go out to a nice restaurant and celebrate.  Someone shorter than us took a picture on our way out:)

3. Almost done with major projects!  We finally got our sink refinished and installed in our laundry room.  This has to be a favorite of all our projects.  We had an old metal sink sandblasted and repainted.  It is like it's brand new!  So fun to have in our utility/laundry room.

4. I've done some painting.  I painted a dresser and mirror I bought second hand for the babies room.  This is a cabinet we tore out of our old bathroom and kept to hang in our laundry room.  It's been sitting in our garage for months now so it was nice to get it done!

5. Its been fun to see everything come up that we've planted since moving in 2 years ago.  When we moved in, there was not a planter on this side of the garage at all.  I planted these perennials here and they turned into giants!  Next year I will double the width because its not quite big enough.  

Welcome Baby Girl-to-be

Some wonderful friends threw me the most beautiful baby girl shower.  It was like it was straight out of a magazine.  Then to top it off, over 70 ladies came and showered baby girl with gifts.  It was such a fun evening and here is what was captured on film.

May

Having 5 boys, I don't think we ever thought about how busy we would be allowing them to explore the world of sports.  Scott and I try to limit what they are involved in, simply because we are unable to do it all! We've encouraged our older boys to pick 2 sports that they really like and can excel in.  I told Scott last night, we should have said 1:)  When they are young, each year we let them try different things in hopes that by the time they reached Jr. high, they would settle into 2 sports.  That has worked for Hudson and Reis.  They both have chosen basketball and golf.  Although, Reis just informed us this week that he thinks he'd like to try tennis this fall..."just for the fun of it and to keep in shape".  

Sorry!  It's against the Yoder house rules:) haha! 

Davis tried baseball last year and like it but this year he wanted to try soccer.  Being the youngest of 5 boys, he pretty much is taught to 'blend in' by his older brothers.  That really was evident his first couple of soccer games and practices.  We were surprised, actually, at how UN-aggressive he was!  Most of the game, he walked around the field with his hands in his pockets, unsure of what to do really and not wanting to bring attention to his self.  But over the last month, he has really improved and gained a lot of confidence.  It was so good for him to be involved in a team sport...that didn't involve his siblings!

 His coach telling him "go after the ball!"

 I have been able to make it to a couple of Reis' golf matches.  He's done pretty well.  I'm learning that golf is a very unpredictable game.  There are so many logistics to remember, perfect... and perfect again to really do well.  Right off the bat, he won a freshman tournament that hosted over 70 high school freshman from around the area.  I was able to be there for that one.  Hudson has also played this year on the 7th grade team.  He's also done well.  I hope to get to a match this week and will post pictures.

 The 3 youngest have fun being 'goofy'!  This is what they did a couple of Saturdays ago.  Shot things with their BB guns...in their robes.  I wondered what the cars driving by were thinking!

Here is what mom is doing...growing!  Baby girl bump is growing well.  She is very active.  I hope I never forget that feeling of movement in my belly! There is nothing like it:)

The Garden is in!

We have been excited to plant a garden ever since we moved to the country.  Our last 2 years in a neighborhood Scott built me a small raised garden which was great for "getting my feet wet".  But we are swimming this year!  He plotted a 40' x 40' garden for us.  I know its crazy to do for the first time, the summer I am pregnant...but oh well!  Its in and we'll enjoy it!  I spent some time online reading through people's advice and wisdom.  I came up with my own 'garden plan'.  We made some changes along the way but for the most part, here's the plan.  We tried to space things so that it won't be overcrowded and we won't kill ourselves when its time to harvest.  What a learning experience this will be!  For all of us!

A friend came and tilled it up with his machine.  It left the dirt fine as powder!  

We couldn't have done that by hand!

 The Preggo momma in her carhart sweatshirt and rubber boots!

 Davis is actually posing for this picture.  Although he did work very hard all day.  He and Owen got a day off of school so they of course enjoyed that!

 It was Scott's day off so he was able to help all day as well, even though he wasn't in the pictures.  We decided to lay a walkway down the center for looks:)  All in all, we got about 2/3 of the garden planted.  The rest we'll plant in the next week.  Now?...we wait.