Naomi

Two months

12lbs

One Month 10lbs

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Naomi

While its still fresh in my mind thought I should get this out...

Saturday (Sept 17) I went to Shul with the kids,... Mike had to work. I was not feeling well but I had been having BH contractions for weeks and was just trying to ignore it. That day I also felt sick to my stomach and didnt want to eat at all but I was trying not to make too big of a deal of that. Around 330 I decided I needed to go home and try to relax so we left a little early. I went home.. took a hot bath (which made my back pan subside) and just tried to chill out while watching a movie with the kids and Mike. At eleven we decided to go to bed since Mike had to work Sunday too and I still didnt feel well.

I did manage to fall asleep for about an hour but just after midnight I woke up with the vague idea I had a dream about pushing out the baby. I was wet and honestly thought maybe I had confused the dream and wet myself. But when I stood up from the toilet gush more came out! I wasnt having any contractions yet though. I woke Mike up and started making phone calls. By 1230 the OB had said come to the hospital, the doula was meeting us and conractions were starting. We got checked in just after one. I was about three but contractions weren't too bad yet. By three I had made it to five, my contractions were really bad, my doula was really helping me through this while poor Michael was stuck trying to get Eliana and Nathaniel to go back to sleep. By 430 I was telling the nurse I needed to push, I was 9! Mike had finally had success and was helping me get through the worst parts. At 510 am Naomi was born. She was 8lbs 4oz. I made it with no interventions at all this time!

We did have a bit of a scare a couple hours later with some low pulse/ox readings. She had to go to the NICU for about an hour while the did chest xrays and tested for infections. She passed all the tests and her O2 improved. The conclusion is that I pushed so fast that the fluid wasnt able to completely be squeezed from her lungs.

Nathaniel is Two!

On the fifteenth Nathaniel turned two. We took him to see Rio (which he lasted through about half of) and let him pick a new toy at ToysRUs. We came home and had cupcakes. I think Nathaniel's favorite part was singing Happy Birthday, he kept signing "more, more"

Six Flags

We took our annual trip to six flags on the fourteenth. It was completely unplanned which ended up being a lot of fun. The weather was pretty cool (well for this summer it wasnt hitting triple digits) and they had predicted rain that didnt come so the lines were fairly short. There was not much that Nathaniel could ride yet but he defiantly had fun on the few things he could ride. Eliana is still wondering if next year she will be tall enough for roller coasters. We let her play a carnival game and she won a big pink bear! She was very proud.

Happy Fourth Of July!

On Sunday (the third) we picked up Brian and spent the day in the country with Daniel and Sheila...

after a rough start (four extra kids in the house) we took them all to the backyard pool for three hours

then it started raining and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees.. since it started at 105 it made for a much nicer evening of setting off fireworks and making smores

after a very late night and early morning we drove back to Saint Louis

we blew a tire and had to get a new one... but

we still made it to the Florrisant City fireworks and then put everyone to bed

it was very full but everyone had fun

Yosef is Eleven

Yosef is 11 today.. I cant quite believe it. Time really does rush by. Yesterday we took him bowling with a couple friends to celebrate.

May...

So all month I have been saying I would blog more but.. havent really taken the time. So I thought I would just post a few pictures of what we have been doing and try again next week:)
May 4th was Elie's recietal

On the sixth we had lunch with a friend from Bible study that owns a horse farm!

On the 10th we got big news:

I dont have pictures but we also went to Planet Fun, Zoo friends day, the science center, and the Renaissance Fair.

(did I mention we also finished the floors and bought a new van...)

Floors

So.. to make us happier with staying here.. we decided to take out the carpet in the living/dining room. At our own expense. It was much harder and took much longer than we expected but it is done. We are now working on unpacking all the boxes and re-arranging the bedrooms. I will put up after pictures soon.

Staying

Well.. since the house we really wanted didn't work out and we didn't find anything we really wanted, we have decided to stay. Yes, there are many things about this house and this neighborhood that we dont like, but, why contract ourselves into staying somewhere we don't love..

And it is financially beneficial to stay put for a while. It is possible by next year we would be able to get traditional financing to buy a home. This means I am unpacking instead of packing but.. I have enough changing this year. I am actually ok with this.

No pool practically in the backyard does disappoint though.. I guess I will have to look for that when it does come time to buy...

Long Day

As Mike was leaving a bit before 8 this morning he noticed the tire was half flat. He assured me that if I left right away and filled it, it would make it to walmart where we bought the tire with roadside. So I woke up Elie threw everyone in the van and headed to QT. We got air and a few doughnuts and some V8 since I hadn't given everyone a chance to eat. We head to walmart.

Of course the tire didn't make it... so there I am on the left side of the highway. Luckily only half of an hour later motorist assist came buy (Thank G-d for those guys!!!) and changed the ruined tire for the doughnut. We got to walmart around 1030.. about an hour later they called me on the intercom and let me know that the tire was ruined (duh) but we didn't buy it there. I called Mike who was sure he DID. A half hour later they found the tire purchase in their system but.. no roadside. SO... now it is noon and I end buying fast food. Mike calls around and the people with the cheapest tire are actually right by our house~! So we drove back across town and paid for a new tire WITH roadside.. and finally made it home around 330...

Finally heard from the owner that our house offer was rejected (for various crazy reasons) so we have to decide what to do about that

Oh and everything in the deep freezer was thawed so I had to STUFF the small freezer.. I dont know if the kids left the door open this morning or if it stopped working but really did it have to be today?

I then had a dentist appointment at 530 across town so I finally got home from my day around 7 and wanted to go to bed then....

Six Point Eight

We went for Nathaniel's 18mo checkup today. He is 21.5lbs and 31inches. He is a bit low on the weight and the doctor suggested we add some healthy fats to his diet like whole milk and olive oil. But the stat that we were looking for, that is unique to us, is 6.8, his current lead count. He spiked at over 15 when we were still living in the house that caused the problem. The fact that it has gone down so much in less than a year combined with the fact that he is showing no developmental issues is great. Of course we will never know for sure. Anything he ever does just a bit slower than his peers will give us pause. What if he had never been exposed? I think it is shameful that landlords are allowed to rent places laden with lead paint. Especially considering the government has programs to aid those who cant afford it with lead abatement. It should be illegal no exceptions to rent homes that are poisonous to the residents.