Newborn Pictures

We had Tabatha's pictures taken when she was five days old. I didn't do newborn pictures like this with Charlie because there was too much medical stuff going on with him and with Ruby when he was born. This time around I wanted to capture Tabatha while she was still so "new". I am glad I did because I am thrilled with how they turned out! She slept through the whole session which made it pretty easy. Julie Hofman took the pictures and I am really pleased with her work. We did Charlie's two year session with her as well. She does great work and she is affordable! Check her out at youbyjulie.com if you are interested.

Making birth announcements sounds like a lot of work and so I doubt it will happen. If you were expecting one, consider this your announcement :) (Don't worry Grandmas...I have some pics for you :)

Choosing Joy

I have several blog posts swirling around in my head, but I feel like I haven't had the time to sit down and type them out. Ruby has been on summer break from school for the last week so having her home full time with Charlie and Tabby makes me plenty busy. I hope once the routine of school starts up again I will be able to get back at my blog. It really is therapeutic for me to write down my thoughts and connect with other families in similar situations so I miss it when I can't find the time.

Anyways, until then, a blogging friend sent me this article that I wanted to share. This family's story inspires me and reminds me how our lives are full of unexpected twists and turns. Thankfully, we have a heavenly Father who walks with us every step of the way and gives us the feet to walk the path He has laid out for us.

I will never fully understand why He allows Ruby to be the way she is, but I have decided to trust Him. All I can do is control my attitude about our situation....so I choose joy. This doesn't always come easy; this family's story was a great reminder. Check it out here.

Seven years ago I told my 8th grade class that my favorite quote was, "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you make of it." Back then I had no idea how true or how hard this would be.

Psalm 25:4- Show my your ways O Lord, teach my Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior and my hope is in You all day long.

Vacation

Just a quick post to say I am still here! Last week we were on vacation with Mark's family at the Wisconsin Dells. We had a fabulous time hanging out with his two brothers and their families and his parents. There were 9 adults and 8 kids (5 under 4 years old) so it was crazy, but we had so much fun together. I have pictures to post soon.

Reality hits this week as the school year is just around the corner. I am hoping to spend some significant time this week lesson planning and getting my room prepped for the year.

Ruby has oral "surgery" on Thursday. Because of all of her meds and how she eats, she has several cavities behind her front teeth that need to be repaired under general anesthesia. I am a little nervous about it just because her seizures make things a little complicated, but hopefully all will go very smoothly.

More to come...

Seeing Ruby

I just got some photos from Ruby's birthday lunch back in May. I LOVE these photos! I feel like they allow people to get a glimpse of the real Ruby. The smile she has on her face melts my heart. So often I feel people don't see who Ruby really is. When someone talks to her in public she doesn't always respond, especially if we are in a place that is loud or unfamiliar. After trying to talk to Ruby, people may walk away thinking she doesn't have much personality or thinking she doesn't respond at all. This is just not the case! When Ruby is in a comfortable setting or around people she knows well, she is very responsive. She makes a lot of noise, she smiles and giggles. She kicks her legs and sometimes even squeals with delight She always has ways of letting us know what she wants and when she is not happy. She LOVES attention of any kind; she loves it when people talk to her, sing to her, tickle, kiss, or hug her. She especially loves rough housing, like when her Daddy throws her up in the air. Ruby is a joy and even though you might have to dig a little harder to see it, she has a lot of personality!

Here are a few photos that show a little bit of the real Ruby....

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Pictures

Life as a family of 5 is crazy busy, but the transition is going pretty smoothly, all things considered. Tabatha is a very easy baby so far; she pretty much just cries when she is hungry. She has gained enough weight now that I can start letting her sleep as long as she wants at night. Last night she slept for almost 5 hours without eating! It felt great to sleep for a several hours at a time. I hope this trend continues. I am thrilled to have a baby that is gaining weight like she should; it really takes a lot of stress away.

Here are a few more pictures of the hospital...

Precious moments with Daddy


My nieces Inara and Arabella loving on their new cousin

Grandpa and Grandma Schonewill with their newest grandbaby


Aunt Kari

Bethany holding her new cousin

Our nephew Alex...he was pretty curious about the baby

Proud grandparents

Snow Angels

It was 100 degrees outside last week when Charlie insisted on putting on all his winter clothes so he could go outside to make snow angels. I was sweating just watching him but he didn't seem to mind the heat :)

Delivery Story

I can't believe a week has passed already since we had Tabatha! For those of you that are interested, here is her delivery story...

Last week I was still having contractions on and off all the time, but they would never get intense enough to put me into active labor. Because I was uncomfortable and Tabatha seemed to be healthy, my doctor agreed to induce me on Friday morning; I was 39 weeks pregnant on Thursday. Thursday night before the induction, I took Tylenol PM hoping to get a good night of sleep before labor began. At 1 am I woke up with painful contractions that were coming every 3-4 minutes. I knew we were scheduled to go to the hospital at 6:30am so I just waited things out at home until then. When we got to the hospital I was still having contractions often, but they weren't intense enough so the doctor gave me pitocin to speed things up. By 10am he broke my water and then from 10-11am I had intense and painful contractions. Thankfully, at 11 I got an epidural. We had a few complications getting the epidural in, but once it was in I felt great!

In the next hour and a half things moved so quickly that my blood pressure dropped a little and Tabatha's heart rate went down. The nurses stopped the pitocin and gave me oxygen which seemed to help. I also changed my position several times until Tabatha's heart rate was stable again. Thankfully, that was short lived and then, after about 15 minutes of pushing, she was born!

When Charlie was born, he wasn't fairly stunned because of the cord being around his neck so he didn't cry and the nurses took him right away to make sure he was responding. I remember being very scared and worried that he was not okay. Tabatha's birth was a much different experience. She had a healthy cry right away and I was able to hold her on my chest for a little while and then, after the nurses weighed her, I fed her. She was wide awake for the first hour and a half; it was a blessing to spend those first precious moments with her.

Here are some photos from last week Friday...


Mark seems to be handling the contractions well :)