Life update.

Sorry for the radio silence, y'all. Things have been busy over here. November has been a crazy, hectic month. Charlie has been gone off and on the past 6 weeks. Hunting, Vegas work trip, elk hunting, wedding, and then drill weekend. Add a couple colds, mastitis, and kids missing daddy--you have a good time haha! Seriously, it wasn't too bad and we all came out alive and well! I figured I'd give updates on how the kids are.

Luke is 5 months old and is such a sweet, jolly baby. He sleeps very well and the kids adore him. How could you not love that smile? Oh, and we had his well-child check when he was four months and he weighed 18lbs....WOAH.

 

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 We just celebrated Tuckers 2nd Birthday a couple days ago. This kid is something else. He has to be the most naughty, adorable kid ever. He has so much personality for someone so small. 

 

Jake is the tenderhearted sweetheart of the group. He is always willing to help someone out and does it so joyfully. He always makes his bed every morning without being asked and enjoys riding in daddy's truck and going hunting.

Emily is doing lessons 5 days a week. She is currently doing reading, writing and math. She really enjoys reading! She is currently in 2nd grade reading and she'll be in first grade math in a few weeks. 

That's all I have for now and I hope to write another blog post in a few days!!

 

Cash bucks.

Every one knows what Cash Bucks are right? If you don't I'll give you the run down:

Sometimes Old Navy has deals where you can earn Cash Bucks if you spend a certain amount of money online or in the store. I always order Charlies jeans online because he's so tall and most stores don't carry 34/36. I found some nice pairs (they had some GOOD deals) and I ordered them. When they came in the mail I received a cash bucks coupon, and if I spend $50 you get $20 off. I had to wait a few weeks to go since you could only use them during a specific time. 

Fast-forward to the day that I could finally use it. I decided to take all four kids with me because what sounds more fun than taking four kids under four to a mall BEFORE lunch, and dragging them through the store and trying on clothes? Nothing. I was feeling brave.
Have you ever had that feeling that you shouldn't go somewhere? Like maybe its not the best idea? I had that feeling AND I ignored it (mistake #1) and went anyway. 

I helped get all the kids ready and Jake asked for water right before leaving so in my hurried state (you only have about a five minute span between getting kids shoes on and out the door before it all starts coming off), I gave him a full cup and he guzzled it down. That was mistake #2. I should not have given him that much water. The thing about Jake is that if he drinks a lot of water he will have to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes for at least two hours.

We were out the door and on the way! About half-way there I looked in the review mirror and saw The Dance. You know the potty dance? Where they cant sit still and they are wiggling like crazy? Jake was doing that. He quickly declared "I HAVE TO MAKE POOKIES!!" "Do you have to go RIGHT now? Can you wait 10 minutes?" I said. "NOOOOOO" he replied. Thank God I keep a kids potty in my car. We pulled over and he did his business and I chucked the pookies on the side of the highway. Don't judge me, you do what ya gotta do!

We finally made it. I unbuckled Luke and put him in the front pack and I went around and opened the door where the kids were. I had The Talk about how you don't touch anything without asking and that they need to be the very best kids for mommy. After that speech, I got the rest of them out of the car. I went to the back of car to get the stroller out while giving threats to STAY CLOSE TO THE CAR. I finally got the stroller out and plopped tucker in it. This whole ordeal takes about 15 minutes. Someone really needs to invent a drive-thur grocery store because having to buckle/unbuckle that many kids stops me from going most places. Anyhoo, we made it across the street without anyone getting run over by a car which is a miracle on its own. 

 When we got to the door the kids started to bicker about who gets to push the handicap button that opens the door. Cause you know its like the coolest thing eva. I FINALLY pushed the button because no body but Mommy gets to push it if there's bickering about it.

I instantly saw some cute tops and started to maneuver the stroller of death (seriously, that thing is nearly impossible to push through those tiny aisles in Old Navy) that direction. I hit a mannequin with the front wheel of the stroller AND I forgot to buckle Tucker in (of course!). He went soaring through the air and fell face first one the floor. He instantly started screaming his head off. At this point I was thankful the mannequin didn't go flying either. I bent down to comfort him and because Luke was in the front pack, I was bending down in a weird position, and he started yelling. We are off to a great start.

I grabbed as many thing as I possibly could and went straight to the dressing room. As I was approaching the dressing room the attendant there looked at me like I was nuts. Because, lets be real, I kinda was. Four kids in a dressing room? Its a little crazy! She gave me the handicap dressing room to fit all of us #igotkids. I maneuvered the stroller of death in there and started trying on clothes. As soon as I had the first outfit on Jake exclaimed, loudly, "I HAVE TO MAKE POOKIES". Now, listen up. When he says that, you have about FIVE minutes before he starts peeing EVERYWHERE. He waits till the last second. "Jake, don't make pookies on yourself. Wait two minutes!" I said as I was trying to take every thing off. He made this sound, almost like a half whine, half panicked sound, and I knew instantly what was happening. He peed on his self <insert crying emoji face>. I pushed the stroller forward and there was a puddle. Not a little puddle, a huge puddle. I didn't know what to do. Do I run out the store as fast as possible? How do I clean this up? The lady that looked at me weird already knows I went in THAT dressing room. She will know my kid peed on the floor. In a hurry to get out the door I didn't bring any extra clothes for the kids (mistake #3). I rummaged through my purse and HALLELUJAH, there was a onesie I had stuffed in there at one point.  I wiped it up with the onesie and stuffed it back in my purse and darted out of the dressing room. I was trying my best to not make eye contact with anyone and then the attendant asked me if anything worked and I replied "no" and gave her the clothes.

Here are some tips I learned from this experience:

1.) Never give Jake a whole cup of water to drink before we leave somewhere.

2.) Keep exceptions as low as they can go.

3.) ALWAYS.  I REPEAT, ALWAYS bring extra clothes.

4.) Laugh it off because you will either want to cry or laugh and laughing is better!

Birth Story

I've done this home birth thing three times people. Three times. You would think by now I would just let it happen, trust God, and not get freaked out about the pain. But nope. I get myself in a panic each and every time and God always pulls through because that's how He is and what He does.

So I was two days past my due date and it was 12am. Jake had peed the bed again, so we were up changing his sheets. I was having braxton hicks, as usual, so I just went back to sleep. Around 2-3am something changed and they were starting to get annoying. I got up and took a bath and they didn't stop. Maybe this was the real deal. I was still in denial and told charlie what was going on and tried to lay down to get more sleep. Who knows if its going to be a 24 hour labor or a 2 hour labor. You have to just try and get rest when you can. Laying down was rough, but it was a weird sensation. I could feel the contractions getting closer so I started timing them. They would range from 2 min apart to 6 minutes apart. They were all over the place so I still wasnt sure if it was "it" since I've had this happen for a few hours and then it would all stop. At this point it was 5am and I just couldn't lay down any longer. Charlie and I both got up and he made some cereal while I ate toast.

As Charlie was eating his cereal I had a contraction and the next thing I know I saw this huge flash, and I looked up and Charlie was taking a picture of me. Mid-contraction I said 'What are you doing? I'm having contractions and your flashing a camera in my face. haha" Jokingly he said he didn't know the flash was on and that I'd be glad he had taken it. So I guess this would be my last pregnancy shot.

 

 It's so beautiful, isn't it? haha!

It was now 6am and Charlie talked me into giving Lisa a call to let her know what was up. She told me she could come over now, but I assured her that I wasn't sure yet, so I'd call her when I was. She said that she expects me to go fast, so make sure I do. The thing about my labors is that I chat it up. I'll be talking away, have a contraction, stop, and then start talking again once its gone. I'll do this right up until I'm pushing. During Jakes labor I starting singing in the shower during heavy transition. So yeah. Haha!

Anyway, back to business.... I was having contractions every 2-3 min and it was now 7am. I decided to give Charlies mom a call and ask her to come over and send someone for the kids. We fed them breakfast, and I helped get them dressed between contractions. I would have to stop and lean on things between them, but other than that I felt pretty good. They all showed up around 7:30am and if someone had told me I would be holding a baby in an hour and a half later I would not have believed them. I talked to my sister-in-laws for a bit and they left with the kids. Contractions were picking up and Charlie said "I think we should call Lisa". I told him I was fine and I didn't think it was time. I was starting to feel a little bit pushy, but I didn't really think he was there quite yet. After a couple more contractions with Charlie and my MIL gently telling me that we should call Lisa, I agreed. She showed up around 8:15am and immediately started putting things together. I was looking at them thinking they were CRAZY because I didn't feel like I was about to die yet. Thats when you know you're close. You feel like you're going to die and like your body is ripping apart. I didn't feel like that. I felt pushy so I made my way to the bedroom and sat on the bed. About 5-7 minutes went by and I was like, "Oh great. It stopped" I was started to feel annoyed so I got up and as I was leaning over the counter, I felt him descend and I yelled "I'M PUSHING!!" The midwife came running over and threw something underneath me. I waddled my way to the bedroom and sat on the bed. I felt another one come and got in a good position with Charlie holding me while I was facing Lisa and I pushed. She said "His head is RIGHT there!!" I started crying because I could not believe it. This was really happening. I kept on saying "Thank you Jesus" over and over again. I never once felt overwhelmed or like I couldn't do it, which happened with Emily and Jake. With Emily I told them to take me to the hospital because I was dying. This time I felt more in control and was able to handle it really well, thanks to God.

Anyway, I asked if she had the birth stool and she didn't. So they grabbed one of the kids chairs so I could sit on that and lean back into charlie. I could not get comfortable. I would feel a contraction coming and try to brace myself and I couldn't get into a good position. I was pushing and I said "Can you please break my water!!" I wasn't scared, I just wanted it over with haha! So she grabbed something, broke my water, and his head came out. I heard her mumble something like "See how fast he came out once your water broke..." I reached up for Charlies moms hand and (She is so amazing during my labors. She has been there for all four kids, prayed me through it, knows exactly where to rub your back, etc.) pushed as hard as I could and he was born at 8:59 am.

 I couldn't believe it. He was here and FAT! She put him up on my chest and we sat there for a bit while she looked everything over. He looked just like Jake. We clamped the cord and then moved onto the bed. This was my first labor where I didn't feel shaky after ward, and I didn't look pale like I normally do. It was so nice. The after-pains started fairly quickly and I didn't want to mess around so I took some ibuprofen. I just laid in bed and cuddled my little man while everyone sat around and talked for a bit. One of my favorite feelings. Cuddling a brand new baby, every one around me that helped bring him into the world, smiles, yummy food brought to you in bed, its just amazing. We were all so curious how much he weighed and every one took guesses. He outweighed them all at 9lbs 10oz. Only 3 oz less than his brother. Big boy! We are so blessed to add another guy to our family and I couldn't imagine life without him.

Our Story: Part two.

I thought it would be a fun idea for Charlie to write the second part so you could see it from his perspective. After some coaxing he agreed. He is the best guy!!
 
  Part two: His perspective.

 I was driving down the road looking for the turn that was on my GPS, and missed the bridge over the creek. I had to back my truck to get to the turn. I then drove up her driveway and saw her and Tracy sitting on her Mammaws front porch. I parked my truck under the tree in the front yard. As I got out of the truck I saw her coming down from the front porch
toward me. I had been somewhat scared up until that point that she may be some nasty dude, or possibly some crazy lady pretending to be Amber, but it was definitely Amber Lynn, the same girl I had been talking to. The only difference I could see was that she was twice as beautiful as she was in her pictures. As soon as I walked up to her we said "Hi" to each other and hugged. We then walked up on to her porch where she introduced me to her Fathers girlfriend Tracy. From there we walked down together to her uncle Tom's house where he, and her Dad were watching NASCAR. She introduced me to them, and Tom said "Hey there!" and her dad said "You like NASCAR?" Shortly after that Amber's sister, and brother-in-law showed up, and we decided to take a walk up the holler a little way to go see a truck that a couple drunks had apparently drove off the road and was laying upside down in the creek. On the way up the hill I grabbed her hand and we walked together holding hands for the first time.

The next few days are kind of a blur. I remember riding ATV's, sitting out and looking at the stars at night, and going to the county fair together. but most of all I remember feeling like the happiest man on earth, and knowing it was only a matter of time until I would ask her to be my wife.

Seriously, guys. Isn't he the sweetest? I'm so lucky!!

Okay, so let me tell you a little bit about the Martin County Fair experience:  Its a small fair and it only cost 5 bucks to get in which includes rides and everything. You have funnel cakes, lemonade, cheesy games, teenage guys checking out the girls,  teenage girls checking out the guys, screams of laughter can be heard and the background noise is a girl on stage singing "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson. Sounds like any normal fair experience right? Wrong. It gets better, or worse, depending on how you choose to look at it.

First off-- I was excited about taking him to the fair. If you know anything about small towns, you know that everybody knows everybody. Even when you don't know whats going on every one else does. So going into it I knew that everyone would be wondering who this smokin' hot guy was I walking around with. And boy was I proud. 

 We drove up in my 2003 Pontiac Sun-fire. It was one of those muggy nights where your hair stuck to your face, and you could hear the crickets singing in the background. We walked in, paid for our tickets, and ran into the sheriff. Now, the sheriff happens to be my distant cousin so he has known me and my family for years. He is a super friendly guy, but you know he means business if you cross him the wrong way. I introduced him to Charlie to which he replied, in a half-joking serious tone,  "You better be good to her, or I'll come after ya." Awesome. Death threats from the sheriff.  We are off to great start. After that we decided to ride the Farris Wheel. Ya know, start if off simple.  We stepped up on the plank to get into the ride and the carney guy took a good look at us and said "Wow, you guys are going to have tall, good looking kids". AWKWARD. Thanks for letting us know that ON.OUR.FIRST.DATE.EVER. I will give him this, though. He was right. Ha!

We got off the Farris Wheel and as we were walking around I saw this ride:
                                       
                                I found a picture on google so you can have a good visual of what I'm talking about.      
                              
   



Here's the thing: When it's your first date and you're at the fair with your girl, you are not going to mention that anything that goes into a circular motion is gonna make you feel like you're going to barf. I didn't know that rides like that made him sick (I found out just a few seconds into it) and I wanted to ride the Umbrellas. If your girl wants to ride a ride, even if it makes you sick, you're gonna suck it up and ride the ride. We got on it and Charlie sat on the inside and I sat on the outside. Baaaaaad idea. Not only was this ride going into a circular motion, but every time the ride dipped down, the engine that sits in the center would blow diesel smoke in your face. We started going around a second time and Charlie said "I feel sick". At that point I didn't know what to do. I know that I would die of embarrassment if I puked on my date, so i did the only thing I could do. I started yelling at the carney guy to stop the ride. So every time we dipped down to where he was standing I would yell "Can you stop the rrrrrriiiiiiiidddeee!!!" while waving my hands like a mad woman. I don't know if he didn't hear me or thought I was waving my hands in excitement but we would go back up again. He finally heard me and he stopped us. That was exciting.

After feeling like he would going to barf, Charlie thought it would be best to get something to drink and sit down under the tents for a little bit. He got me some lemonade and grabbed himself a bottle of water. As we sat down I looked up and saw that they were getting ready to start a wrestling match. I thought "Oh no, here we go....... "And I kid you not--they started the music and I looked up and saw a guy with a mullet wearing an American Flag speedo. He started yelling "MARTIN COUNTY SUCKS!!" to the competitor. This drunk lady (in the crowd) didn't like that anyone would talk about her beloved town, and started swearing back at the guy words that I shouldn't be typing here. It was the most awful, hilarious, redneck thing you could possibly ever see. I looked over and Charlie was laughing so hard. Good. He thinks its funny and doesn't want to run for the hills. #winning.

After that hilarious/awful fiasco, we took a walk behind where all the rides were and sat on a hill overlooking the four-lane. We sat there, held hands and talked for awhile. I don't remember what we talked about, but I just remember being the happiest girl in the world being with the man of my dreams!