My 2 are Now 3

The boys' birthday in pictures...

Nothing better than a cake batter that is dairy and egg free... there was lots of batter licking!!!! If anyone needs a good alternative here it it... they turn out great! And you can make them a little doughy to have with ice cream, almost like lava cakes? And since there are no eggs, there's no worry!

1.5 c flour

1 c sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup oil

1 c cold water

Combine ingredients and pour into greased pan or muffin tin. Bake in oven until done, when cake springs back to the touch or a toothpick comes out clean. Time varies on the pan you use, 15 to 30 minutes possibly.

So fun now that the boys are older because they are so into the theme of their bday! They picked the farm theme and NEEDED cow cupcakes... which threw me for a loop because I had a game plan for all the animals but NOT cows! Ha! It was a fun cake to work on!

My three-year-olds!

Half of the village people!

Family photo minus Jack... he was napping!

Luke loves his wheel barrow!

I can't believe my boys are three. My teeny tiny twins that were supposed to have ALL these problems at three are perfectly healthy, super smart and almost potty trained! :) I praise God for what he has done in these little boys' lives and look forward to what he is planning for their future! They are both beyond sweet and have personalities that are as opposite as chocolate and vanilla. They are enemies one minute and kissing each other the next. I love that they still come give me kisses randomly during the day but yet I am marveled as they become more and more independent every day! 

Children are a heritage from the Lord,

    offspring a reward from him. Psalm 127:3

Amen to that, thank you Jesus!

And I was doing so good...

Ah man! I really thought I was going to start being better at this! But the reality is I have started a post about ten times and have never been able to finish it. I will just be a monthly poster, I guess!

So a little about Jack and then I'm hoping to post about the boys' birthday bash soon.

Jack had his two month appointment a week and a half ago and he weighed in at 11 lbs 15.6 oz... seriously, they don't round it up to 12 lbs! But I will say he was 12 lbs! He as also 24" long. He was between the 25th to 50th percentile for weight and the 85th for height! Long boy.

In all other news he is doing really well, sleeping good, and starting to get beyond his fussy stage. The only gripe I have about him is that he HATES his carseat and that is hard for me because my boys LOVED their carseats! I could always guarantee they would sleep if I put them in there and Jack decides he's perfectly happy as long as he's as far away from his carseat as possible!

This is how we go to Walmart, as many of you have asked and been curious about. We use those HUGE carts made for women with daycares or lots of little ones, the ones that people run over people in because you can't see ANYTHING until you are well into the next isle! So.. I apologize if I run into you in advance! I will usually be in too much of a hurry with a crying infant to say sorry... no I hope not! 

I can say that I am managing everyday better and better with three! Feels good to get to this point and I think it's only God's grace that is carrying me through. Because I have many moments where I am about to lose it! Crazy the amount of patience it takes to take two little boys to the bathroom a million times a day as their baby brother is screaming but it has been getting better and we are all adjusting! And yes, we are working on potty training, but we aren't getting real far, so pray for a miracle... that something will click for these boys! We have great days and horrible days so it's so hard to judge. Days where they will be totally dry and then days where they poop and pee in their pull up and say they want to wear diapers! 

These little boys really LOVE their little brother!

Little Jack Man at bath time! Starting to become a little chunk!

Max going pee OUTSIDE! A new obsession!

Sleeping so sweetly with Daddy!

Jack playing with his best buddy Ryan. He lives in North Dakota and came home to visit! (Big Johnny's little brother!)

Jack smirking at his daddy the day we dedicated him at church!

The many faces of Jack!

He's started to smile and it's so fun!

He loves my hair! Which is a big thing to me because the boys hate/hated it! Because of them being preemies it was overstimulating when they were little if it tickled them or the sent was too strong for them... so now it seems weird to have a baby that is comforted by it!

Jack's hair after his bath! It gets really curly and then Caleb put it in a mohawk!

Max reading a book to Jack, he told me I needed to take a picture of them together! :)

Cousin Sammie and Jack, he loves her!

Little naked man!

So before I have to run... I need to write down some of the stuff my boys have been saying lately so I will remember. They have been so sweet! I have had some stuff on facebook too so it might be a repeat for some, but they have just been little sponges lately and I'm loving all they are saying!

So I'm sitting on the couch with Jack last night and overheard this conversation between Caleb and the boys upstairs as he was putting them to bed... Max: "My butt is burny and ouchy Daddy. I need sap (salve)." 

Caleb: "Well lets pray for your ouchy bottom." (In an attempt to keep the bedtime routine rolling and bypassing excuses to get out of bed).

Luke: "I'll pray Dad! Jesus, heal Max's BUTT! Help him feel better."

Ha! It was too cute the way Luke piped up and just prayed for his brother's butt! 

Another conversation the other day with Max in the morning as he was watching Dad out the window leaving for work.

Max: "Momma, I'm going to work when I get big."

Me: "Well I'm going to miss you. I like hanging out with you everyday."

Max: "I get big, I go to work, I come home and give you kisses!"

And lastly, Luke was walking out the door to go with my dad the other day and he blew me a kiss and yelled... "Take care of Jack, mom!" 

These are all just little things, just life with little ones, but their little spirits are so sweet and they are really starting to become little boys and are so far from babies anymore. It's just fun now to dream about what little Jack will do and say as he grows! I'm thankful for the new perspective this time around with him!

Gimpy

So you'll never believe the newest addition to craziness in our life... Luke broke his leg last Saturday!

SO... about gimpy.  

The whole thing pretty much breaks my heart. As a mother of boys you prepare yourself for things like broken bones, blood, ER visits... but not already! And not for something so stupid! We were at an auction last Saturday in Chetek and we were walking through a big field with lots of different equipment and other random things for sale. Caleb, Max and Grandpa Joe were in front and Luke was walking behind me (I had Jack in the baby carrier). Luke was walking slower, just taking his time admiring EVERY piece of equipment. I turned around to take his hand again and hurry him up and as I did I watched a skid steer attachment fall on him, just a couple feet from me! 

So above is a picture of what fell on Luke, but the problem is that it didn't have the big forks on it (the long pieces that are sticking out) and it was set up like that on a pallet. So when Luke walked by and started to look at it the attachment started to tip towards him and he tried to sneak away but the top of it pinched his leg right above his little snow boot. It was horrible to watch! I was so close but not close enough to catch the attachment from falling. I ran over to him and ripped it off as fast as I could and Caleb came running over and scooped him up. Luke was crying, of course but calmed down quite quickly. Another man was standing close by and saw it all happen and was appalled at the fact that the attachment was stood up like that and said it could have fallen on anyone... too bad it fell on probably the smallest person at the auction!

We decided to wait to take him in to the doctor until Monday from the advice of one of our doctors since they couldn't do really anything for him until then anyway. Meanwhile, all weekend he was still unable to bear any weight on his leg/foot and seemed to be in quite a bit of pain. He did quickly figure out how to get around... by crawling! Monday morning he had an X-ray and it confirmed what we thought .. a fracture. But just a tiny green stick fracture on his fibula. So it didn't break all the way through. We were sent home from our visit and told to just let him heal, that there was nothing else they could do. Then just an hour later I got a call back from the doctor saying that they needed us to come back for casting! They sent his X-ray up to Duluth and they spotted something that they were suspicious about. Basically there was speculated damage to the growth plate, nothing they could confirm, but at this young of an age they always cast an injury if there is even doubtful damage to the growth plate... so BACK to the clinic!

Cast # 1 ... yup you read that right!

Because of his young age, again, his cast needed to be mid thigh to the toes because little ones have a tendency to wiggle out of their casts. Even though his injury only needed a short cast.

Luke got an orange cast the first round and then we went back a day later and got him a new black cast because the first one he was unable to walk in. He fought the doctor and ended up with a pointed toe instead of having his ankle at a 90 degree angle. As they tried to push his foot towards him he just pushed back and in turn, made his foot point. 

Cast #2

New cast! To any mom out there that ends up with a kid in a walking cast... check out Walmart's "Rubberoos" or Target's "Skidders" for a shoe/sole for their cast! Works great! SO nice to have him in a walking cast now! I was not okay with him being unable to walk for three weeks! And the cast would have left damage to his leg/foot if left the way it was originally.

I would say... so far so good with the cast! I was very nervous for Luke when we had to go in just a day later to get his cast removed and another put on... seemed so traumatic... but YouTube saved  us! We watched multiple videos of casting on and removal to prepare him. It worked great! I found videos with little ones ... but the key is... pre-watch! It could have really added to the anxiety if I wouldn't have done this! Some of the videos started out fine and then the kid would freak! 

Going for a snowmobile ride with his cast on... it can't get wet, hence the plastic Walmart bag on his foot!! 

It's amazing to me how he's getting around. You would have NO idea that he had a cast on his leg! I no longer have belly updates to put on my pantry door chalkboard so this is what I decided to do now... put up scripture every week or so... and this one reminded me of Luke this week!

I thought it would be a good way to help me memorize scripture since it takes me a while to do... I reread the verse over and over as I draw! And I see it many times a day!

Finally... Jack Martin Yoder

It was Friday, March 8th when it all started...

I was 38 weeks and 5 days along that Friday. Feeling great and looking big! That afternoon I went for a walk with some of my girlfriends and I felt really good the whole time. I had started to walk more that last couple of weeks, despite the weather, in order to get my little man ready for labor. I wasn't feeling anxious at that point to get him out, more anxious to keep moving because I had a hard time being stuck inside all winter! 

So Friday evening I went out to dinner with my sister-in-law, Rachael, alone... crazy I know! Me with two two year olds and her with a ninth month old... let's just say it never happens! We left our guys home with all the boys and enjoyed probably the last solo supper out for quite a while! During dinner our conversation centered around birth and other baby centered topics... and I was still feeling great... and clueless!

After dinner we headed to a friend's house for a Thirty-One party. I had a few mild contractions while we were there, but didn't think anything of it. They felt very similar to the false labor contractions I had been having since 30 weeks. When we got back to my house I told both of my sister-in-laws that there was no way this baby was coming anytime soon... since I still felt so good. Little did I know he would show his face in less than 12 hours from then!

Once home Rachael and Josh were just hanging out at our place visiting and Rach was having fun timing my contraction while I was constantly reassuring her it was nothing! Well soon after they left  I lost my mucus plug and minutes later my water broke... but I was still unsure because I had just went to the bathroom when that all happened and I was sure... from all the stories I had heard... that having your water break was supposed to be this major production with water gushing everywhere. Not so much I guess. 

Soon after all of that my contractions became noticeable. Still not bad though. I sat down quickly at the computer because I all of a sudden felt the urgency to get some loose ends tied up with book work and then I cleaned all three of my toilets. My body and subconscious knew I was in labor but for some reason I was still in denial! My sister-in-law, Rachael, had known from dinner that I was in labor and by this point she was texting me asking if she needed to come to town... I was still thinking no way... false labor once again! Boy was I wrong! Ha!

Mid contraction... crazy how your belly starts to literally squish baby out!

Last pictures during labor... trying to pack my hospital bag!

As soon as I finished my bookwork and cleaning I did my best to go to bed and sleep. However, this is when I KNEW that I was finally in labor! My contractions became more than noticeable very suddenly and I could no longer just relax easily through them. It was about 12:30 am at this point and I woke up Caleb and told him that it was IT! He just rolled over and said, no surprise...he knew it as soon as I was running around cleaning toilets!

Like a thunderstorm in May, my contractions seemed to come out of nowhere! I was doing my best to get clothes on and my bag packed but I was struggling because I was only getting about a minute between contractions. Caleb kept encouraging me to move and wait it out and I kept telling him to call my mom... I knew I needed to get to the hospital. Just an hour later Caleb was convinced and called my mom. She was at our house by about 1:30 am and we headed for the hospital as soon as she saw me and said GO! 

The walk to the car, the ride to the hospital, the check in, the walk back to OB... were all beyond difficult. At that point my contractions were about one minute to 30 seconds apart and crazy intense and long! We made it to the hospital around 2:00 am and were checked in and ready to go by about 2:30 am. Things just continued to get more intense and blurry from there. I remember taking my clothes off in the bathroom - CONTRACTION - getting into my robe - CONTRACTION - the nurse asking me to pee in a tiny cup, me laughing and saying heck no - CONTRACTION - peeing in the cup and then all of a sudden I felt like I had to push! When I got to the hospital I was already at 6 cm and I very quickly progressed into transition and ready to push. Intense is an understatement but the thing I still remember most vividly is needing a break and feeling like I couldn't get one! Finally once I started pushing I felt like I could at least breath between pushes! Dr. Hyser got there just as I started to push and about 42 minutes later... Jack Martin Yoder was born! 

It was absolutely incredible!! The most amazing experience ever! Jack came right up on my chest and the feeling is really almost impossible to describe. All my life I have longed to experience birth the way I feel God created it... allowing our bodies to do exactly what they are made to do. Now... don't get me wrong, medical intervention has it's place. I mean if it wasn't for skilled medical professionals, c-sections, etc my boys would not be here! But it's hard for me to not feel like my boys got cheated, along with myself now that I know and have felt the difference. There was an automatic bond between Jack and I that felt so natural and beautiful. As he came out and up on my chest he was calm, happy, content... until they started to suck him out and clean him off! But it was so amazing! 

I was so blessed to have an all natural birth VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean section) with as little medical intervntion I could have in a hospital. Now many have said... don't be a hero, get the epidural, and I can see where you would want one after expeienceing it... but honestly... be tough, feel it all, be a HERO or at least do your best to experience it fully so that you FEEL like a hero. Now I have opinions on epidural, medically speaking, but my emotional take on it is more opinionated... motherhood is hard. Period. And if you are willing to take the easy way out at birth, it might not be the last time you go down that road. God created you to feel the pain, feel as if you could conquer the world afterward... because well, frankly, you need to! Women who have c-sections and survive the first week of having a newborn and being bed ridden... same thing - tough! All mothers are tough no matter how their babies enter the world, but my point is be ready for the toughest and most rewarding ride of your life! (Now a disclaimer... I am writing this as a crying newborn just fell asleep in my arms and two crazy two year old boys are fighting at my feet! The chaos around me is most definitely affecting my writing slant!)

I would love to document more about my birth for my own sake and for anyone who is interested but as I mentioned above things are a little crazy around here and I know have a little one asking and pleading that I read a book to him so I'm off for now! I'm hoping to get better about posting... ya.. heard that before?! But really, I need to keep up on what Jack is doing so he doesn't feel slighted! Ha! Oh - speaking of that... He was back up to birth weight at his follow up and has been eating and sleeping like a champ! He's a good baby and is sweet and cuddly as can be! Can't believe he's a month old already!! Ok... gotta run!

The boys always bring Jack toys while he's nursing!

Big brother Luke!

Hopefully there is still someone out there checking my blog for posts! Keep checking for updates! :)