And then there was 1.

1 child in diapers, really? Oh yeah, with a huge sigh of relief. This is how it all went down- 3 days of Eli by my side. Teaching him how to notice the urge and encouraging him to run to the bathroom. Lots of praise, jumping up and down and high fives. Throwing away ALL the diapers and staying dry through naps and bedtime. This kid knows how to rock it!

Granby Ranch.

We took a family ski vacation to Granby Ranch. Beautiful weather, me getting my bearings on a board again, Luke catching onto skiing and Eli making his way down the magic carpet made for a great long weekend.

By the end of the weekend Matt and Luke were cruising down the blue runs. Matt said it was one of the best days of his life. The love you can feel for your child is something so hard to explain but you know that your parent's love for you is just the same. To be loved and return that love is the greatest of all gifts.

Daredevils.

Mary says Matt is raising these kiddos to be adrenaline junkies. I agree.

Here is my contribution~

We made it....I hope.

Going into this whole third baby scenario I knew 6 weeks was my usual breaking point. In the past it involved lots of tears, sayings like "I can't do this" and "What were we thinking?" Sure enough, it came but I held out a little longer than usual, 7 weeks 1 day.

James was sick and I was on my way to the pediatrician, I backed into a parked car and completely wrecked the tailgate of my minivan (which I LOVE), had not slept more than 3 hours that night and was just finishing up antibiotics. Why was I on antibiotics? Good question as I had not taken any in years, so long I can't even remember but my nipple was severely damaged from nursing. I tried Polysporin, Gentian Violet, different nursing positions, advice from lactation consultants and nothing was working. 6 weeks into it I was still crying each time Baby James latched on and would break out in a sweat. I started a 10 day course of medicine and on the 9th day nursed with no tears. Whoo, relief, thank you. But when my dad called that morning I think the conversation went something along the lines of, "I am so tired. I can't do this. I just backed into a car" BUT lo and behold just a mere 2 weeks later we survived and are actually thriving. I got 7.5 hours of sleep last night! Yep, ME, 7.5 hours. I woke up ready to run a marathon, climb Mt Everest, start extreme couponing- just do something BIG! When all was said and done, I ran 3 miles AND took a shower. A good day to say the least.

I am keeping all of my finger's and toes crossed that this is not a fluke and we are on our way to blissful sleep each and every night. We will see but now that I am a bit more coherent I wanted to jot down those things that are "life changers" with a newborn. I would like to thank.....

1. Babywise. This is the book that changed it all. I started the program with Luke and continued it with Eli. Amazing. Yes, the baby does cry it out which some folks don't agree with but I think of it as winding down. Just like I might read a book or take a bath. The little guys are wrapping up their day. The basic premise is you work off a schedule- the babe eats, plays and then sleeps usually in a 3 to 4 hour block. With two older kiddos I have had to be a little more flexible but overall, we love it! Lots of sleep makes for a happy baby.

2. Miracle blanket. This little blanket can make your newborn into the tightest little sausage swaddle ever. No breaking out of it which means longer naps. Interestingly enough James is the first baby we have had that soothes himself by sucking. He is finding his thumb so I am going to have to figure out how to make the swaddle work for him- I have left an arm out, given him a pacifier. I am still experimenting.

3. Napping. Everyone told me with Luke to nap when he naps. Why did I not listen? I was able to make it work so all 3 kiddos nap or have quiet time simultaneously each day. Which means I have actually laid down and taken a quick nap. This can change the whole perspective on the day and make the sleepless nights bearable.

4. Eat. With Luke and Eli I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight at 8 weeks. Here I am at 9 weeks and am close but not there. Why? Because I eat and boy does it feel so much better. I snacked when little guy was getting up at night and it felt great. I also think it made for a faster recovery overall. So simple, so effective.

5. Accepting help. This go around my parents were here for 2 weeks to help me, we have Mrs. Mary during the week to help and my in-laws and nephew will be coming for 2 weeks. It really does take a village and I know this is not profound but the extra hands and hugs make a difference!

Minus the breakdown this post partum has been wonderful :) Maybe I am more at ease or a little more laid back but I am begging Matt for one more (baby that is). His response, "No way". My response, "We already have to get the big table when we go out to restaurants."

Mrs. Mary

We were lucky enough to cross paths with Mrs. Mary about a year ago and persuaded her to come and help me with the kiddos. Originally, she would come over two mornings a week for two hours so I could slip out and run an errand or get a work out in. A few months into it, Matt and I discussed the fact that we needed a little better work and life balance. Our weekends seemed to be filled to the brim with errands, haircuts, grocery shopping, work for him, just regular life stuff. We decided at that point we needed a little more sanity and the best way to get that was for me to help him with his work and to have Mary come more often.

What a life changer this was........some weeks I helped Matt, other weeks were full of meetings with housing contractors, going through closing paperwork on the house or midwife appointments for the baby but we have enjoyed so much quality time together as a family come Saturday and Sunday.

Mary is just so wonderful. The boys adore her, she is creative and loving. I never hesitate to ask her for advice on parenting (having raised two wonderful children herself), she is a wonderful cook and good person. We are so better for having her in our lives! So, she is my secret weapon with this 3rd kiddo. With no family around this time I am feeling a bit overwhelmed but with Mary around it all seems more manageable. A real life Mary Poppins.

Goodbye 3, HELLO 4!

This was Luke's favorite saying on his 4th Birthday! So hard to believe it is here. I am a bit reminiscent with the baby coming and all but can this sweet, little boy already be 4, truly! I can not believe it.

For his birthday he received a two wheel bike. Let me tell you- the kid was up and riding the same day he got it! The trick- the Skuut. He mastered balancing on the Skuut and after 15 minutes of learning to pedal with training wheels we took them off and there he went. We are still learning to break but the little dare devil sees no reason to slow down. He and Matt have done a few "trails" around here- small dirt paths- and he rings that bell like it is nobodies business. All he wants to do is RIDE!

We also celebrated by inviting his best bud, Dylan, to Chuck E Cheese and then hitting up Tokyo Joes afterward for lunch and cake.

I love watching his personality develop. He is inquisitive and asks questions all day long. His sense of humor will make me smile most any day. During his 4 year check up at the doctor the nurse was doing his eye exam. She was at the last line of pictures that were extremely small, wanting to know what the object was. Luke replied with, "Excuse me but do you think you can move that a bit closer so I can take a look." She and I both busted out laughing. He loves to rough house with Eli, never missing an opportunity to get a jab or elbow in but will always follow up with a kiss to a boo boo. His memory is amazing and providing details to stories is his forte.

Happy Birthday sweet Luke. I know I tell you every night but I thank God each and every day for giving me such a wonderful and amazing son!!

Getting settled in.

So, I can definetley say that moving when you are 7 months pregnant with two kiddos and husband that had to be out of town for work is exhausting! I think I am just recovering now. Thankfully my amazing friend, Jess, and awesome cousin, Callie, powerhoused through the day with the movers and made sure we had clean sheets, dishes in the pantry, dinner on the table and clean clothes to wear. Mary took Luke and Eli for the day and it was so fun to see their faces when they arrived back to their new home. A few days later my good friend, Christine, was so wonderful and came over to organize the basement and garage. Give a few determined women a goal and you can accomplish anything :) I am so grateful for their help! Thank you girls!

We are getting settled in. I was not sure how the transition would pan out for Luke but he LOVES our new house. Most every day he asks me, "So, mom, what do you think of our new house?" Eli never skipped a beat! We explore the secret path at the end of our cul-de-sac. Walk up to Coyote Song Trail and track down the trail. We wind down to the rock formations and climb them. We are so thrilled and loving our new neighborhood!

The house is a work in progress. It has come a LONG way but there is still so much I would like to do. A few pictures are hung and some decorations are up, it will all come together sooner or later. I will post some before and after pictures as it is amazing what a little paint and creativity can do.

We are on the countdown for Little Guy #3- 7 more weeks to go! I just can't believe it. I saw my midwife yesterday and we are doing great. Matt and I had our last appointment with Jacie, our doula. She suggested I write out exactly how I want my birth to be and use that during my visualizations- GENIUS. I am so big on the mind and body connection that I think this will do wonders for me. I look forward to this birth experience and meeting our love bug.

9-1-1, It was bound to happen.

Sometimes it is hard to tell if Luke and Eli are particularly rambunctious or if they are just being boys. I know they have lots of energy and laugh while jumping, spinning and flipping off just about anything in our house.

Yesterday I went to change the laundry in the basement, heard a scream and as I was running up the stairs heard Luke say, "Eli has blood." I walk in to find Eli holding his toothbrush (which he can be found doing about 25% of the day) full of blood and screaming. I picked him up, he was hysterical and I asked Luke what happened.

In Luke's terms, "I bumped him off the stool (in the bathroom where they brush their teeth) and he hit his head." There was a lot of blood and I was having trouble telling where it was coming from. I took Eli to the sink to wash him off but it just kept coming. I tried to lay him down but when I did that he started to whimper, his eyes fluttered and I had no idea what was happening. I called 911 thinking maybe he had a concussion. They instructed me to keep him upright.

Once they arrived Eli had calmed down and was waving at the firetrucks as they pulled up. We all thought the blood was coming from his mouth, the paramedic looked him over as best he could but stubborn Eli would not let go of me or let anyone look in his mouth. Turns out he had gashed his chin. We decided to forgo an ambulance ride and take him to our pediatrician to get it fixed up. Forget stitches, nowadays they have super glue. Within the hour he was as good as new, proud of his boo boo.

Lo and behold, ten minutes after this he fell out of the cart at Costco. Oh sweet love. Then proceeded to trip over his fire truck once we were home and get a fat lip.

Well, not my most stellar day as a mother.

Lesson learned~ Luke is very adventuresome and while Eli so wants and so tries to keep up with him, I need to set boundaries. If you were to ask Luke what my job as a mother is he will tell you, "To keep me safe and healthy." I am hoping these boundaries will do just that.

And the tears came.

Last night at about 9:15pm I hear a sniffle and a whimper and a beckoning, "Mom, mom...." barely audible come from Luke and float down the stairs. He has been perfecting his stall tactics lately so I thought this was part of the scheme. Once I got into his room, he collapsed into my arms. Sobbing, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Mommy, the trampoline was in my mouth and it would not let my mouth close." "The swisher was loud and I was scared." "I wanted to get out of the chair and the dentist said I had to sit as still as a statue." "It took so long." "They put medicine on it." "I don't want to go to the dentist."

Wow, a flood of emotions. Turns out this was all tied to his root canal and filling from two weeks ago that he proclaimed was "no biggie". Luke is a thinker and from what I can tell he held in all of these emotions and fear, thinking about them since the visit. The morning before he had come into my bedroom at 5am and asked me when he had to go to the dentist and I thought nothing of it. Oh, poor thing had been carrying this weight all alone.

What a true lesson for me to remember, to really listen to what my child tells me. Maybe I should have been able to sense his fear that morning or brought up the dental visit again a few days after the procedure to make sure he still felt comfortable with what had happened. For Luke, I now know that just because he carries a smile on his face does not mean he is smiling in his heart.

So today we ventured over to the dental office again and he had a "fun" visit. Brushed his teeth, got a prize. They said they would send us a card in 6 months so that we could come back again for a cleaning and Luke replied with, "Sounds good. See you next week." I am hoping we have cleared the air with this one.

3 in 4.

21 pounds, 2 ounces, Eli's new weight. He is not on the charts just yet but is close. He gained 3 pounds in 4 weeks, great news! We got the results back from the pediatric endocrinologist and it turns out his acid levels are still low but she said that IF he can continue to gain weight she is not as concerned. In two tests, she was able to detect human growth hormone, she found normal fat levels in his fecal specimens and his Vitamin D levels are right where they should be although most of it coming from the sun not his diet. She said she is very pleased with they way everything looks and confirmed with a pediatric nephrologist that the acid levels are not worrisome with the weight gain. Thank you Lord for keeping watch over my beloved son.

So, what did we do? Pretty much stopped feeding him fruits and vegetables. If you give Eli a plate of french fries, chicken nuggets and peas he will eat the peas and beg for more leaving all else for the birds. While I am not completely comfortable and am sure this will not be our lifestyle I am confident it will not hurt him for a few months. Matt asked me a few weeks back to change his diet, cut out the green smoothies, be a bit more lenient with refined sugars and add some meat to his diet. For me it is going to be about finding balance in the coming months with what I feel is a healthy diet for him and what will keep his weight up.

Little peanut.

Eli always has been a little peanut. When he was born he weighed in at 6 lbs, 12 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. At his check ups he always fell between the 25th-30th percentile for height and weight. At about a year old his weight started to fall to 20th%, 15%, down to -5%. I could always attribute this to something- him being an early walker and expending lots of energy, to my extended breastfeeding. However, at his 18 month check up he continued to fall further away from the normal growth curve so our pediatrician recommended we get blood work and an urine analysis done on Eli.

I have to say I was shocked when he called me a week later to say that some of the results were abnormal. In my heart of hearts, I felt that he was okay. He is hitting everything other milestone and perfect otherwise. However, two of the numbers need to be looked at further. One is his acid level. Eli's is at 17 and the normal range is 20-32. The second is the growth hormone marker. The normal range is 55-303 and Eli is below 25 (undetectable.) At this point, we are scheduled to see a pediatric endocrinologist middle of the month. My pediatrician and another wonderful friend who is a doctor as well (thank you Clancy) assured me that while these need to be attended to, both are treatable and will be taken care of.

While we are confident Eli will continue to be a thriving, healthy and growing boy it still stirs my heart to know that I can not make this all better for him. But, it is in God's hands and I am grateful this is what he gave us to deal with (as there are other families dealing with far harder issues), grateful for a doctor who cared enough to notice, grateful for a little boy who for some reason does not mind getting pricked and prodded as long as there is a lollipop in hand, and grateful for a husband who keeps my emotions from running rampant.

Eli, thank you dear boy for all of your laughs and giggles.

Chi Running.

I posted about a class I was excited to take in Chi Running. The whole premise is to run or walk with correct form, eliminating any pain or discomfort while increasing endurance and speed. It was great but all the excitement wore off when, for the life of me, I just could not get the technique down. Argh! I was in a pickle because my old running style felt off but I just could not get the hang of the Chi style. Go figure- I relay all the information I learned to Matt. He is such a self learner, goes out and within about a month with no other training, is running about twice as far as he used to with absolutely no pain and an increased time. He has taken to 6-8 miles of steep trail running and comes home enthused and ready to conquer more! So, I will keep at it but for anyone that is curious Matt has seen dramatic results. He is even thinking of signing up for some long trail races.

The Bad Habit.

(The Berenstain Bears boys and my mom walking in Ybor City, FL. I am constantly told how much my brother and Luke look alike. Lucky Luke.)

Growing up my brother, Travis, loved "The Berenstain Bears". He read the books, watched the cartoons and talked about the bear family like he knew them. I found it funny when Luke took to them too. "The Berenstain Bears and The Bad Habit" is our newest. My list of bad habits is long..........I thought I would note a few hoping it would make me accountable to maybe change a few or at least acknowledge them.

1. Late night snacking- usually something sweet. Thanks mom and dad, I know I got this one from you two!

2. Picking my nails- uggh, gross. I go through phases with this one. More stress = less nail.

3. Controlling. My poor husband, I like to have my short nailed hands in everything.

4. Reluctant to try things I could possibly fail at. This is a huge shortcoming.......I have missed out on what could be so many amazing opportunities and life adventures all because of my own insecurity. Umph.

5. Not pondering the past enough to learn from it. I have noticed in blogging that if I go a week or two without a post I just let it go as I prefer to look at what is ahead and not stop to think about what those weeks have taught me or the experiences. I am going to let that one sink in.

(Travis and I at the David Gray concert in Tampa. Travis and David Gray are both amazing!)

Amalgam be gone!

This past week I got all 7 of my Amalgam/Mercury tooth fillings removed and replaced. Usually I love going to the dentist (a little strange, I know) but I was apprehensive about this procedure. I am not a fan of drugs and I had to get a local anesthetic in four areas of my mouth. They also started me on nitrous oxide but within two minutes I started breaking out in a sweat and had it replaced with pure oxygen. Drills, my mouth wired open and 3 hours later, no more toxic mercury in this mouth. Thank goodness.

This is about 1/10 of the metal that the dentist removed. Amazing that years ago (and in some dental practices today) it was common place to fill cavities with a deadly poison. I wonder what we will look back on in 20 years and say, "I can't believe in 2010 we used to ______?" (Drink water with flouride, have health care options that were constitutional, think traditional sunscreen protected us from cancer.) Hmmm.

BlackRock = Big Smiles.

March 1st, that was Matt's official start date at BlackRock. Wahoo! The company has poised itself to be the leader in the marketplace, the team is small but fierce and the manager is phenomenal.

Cheers to new beginnings. We could not feel any luckier.

Half marathon- check!

Oh, the feeling of accomplishment. What a thrill! I only say this because I never thought I could have run 13.1 miles and felt so good. I am not a runner and prior to my training had only run 6 miles once.

It just goes to show what a good pair of running shoes and proper training can do for a girl. My mom, sister and I all participated. My mom had plans of walking the race but she said there was so much energy she ran the first two miles and finished off running too. I was so proud of her as I watched her cross the finish line! My sister, Jamie, and I ran the entire course together- except for the last .5 mile, she smoked me and finished about 30 seconds ahead. We made a total rookie mistake and had to stop at the first bathroom check point. The line was literally ten minutes so all in all we probably ran the race in a little under 2:30. The day was beautiful, my partners were awesome and I had the best cheering crowd around (thanks Dad!!)

I realized something about myself during this whole process. I always thought I was competitive but really I think I like to just set a goal and achieve it. Whether that puts me in first or last place depends on what I set my mind to achieve. Now I just wonder, what is next......

Homemade Bread- Take 2.

This is my second attempt at making fresh bread. I milled the flour, mixed it in the Bosch, let it rise, put in a cold oven and while it tasted delicious the consistency was more like a muffin than a loaf of bread. Humpf....any suggestions?

The last long run.

10 miles.

22 degrees and flurries.

2 hours of Alex Jones on my podcast....

I completed my last long run and am ready for the big race next Sunday!

The final countdown!

Week 8 of 12 for my half marathon training has come and gone. The race is just around the corner, registration is complete. I finished my longest run to date, 8 miles. It felt really nice today. Working on my breathing technique and form has been a top priority the last few weeks as I have seen major benefits with it in other areas of my life (child birth, yoga). I read a book called, "ChiRunning" by Danny Dreyer that combines this breathing, inner focus and the flow of T'ai Chi into running form. The goal is to make the sport effortless and injury free. Slowly I am getting the hang of it and have my sights set on a ChiRunning clinic in March as well. My pace is extremely slow (11 minute miles) but once I master the technique the speed will come. I am okay with that. For now.

Nurturing seeds for growth~ 2010.

This year I hope to plant a few more seeds in our life and stay focused on those intentions.

~ Live my faith more fully through studying the scriptures.

~ Fill my family's plates with a majority of vegan and vegetarian dishes. How do I break Luke and Eli of chicken nuggets? Hmm.....this will be a work in progress.

~ Study homeopathy and begin to practice it in our home.

~ Begin mini-homeschool lessons with Luke.

~ Consume less and rid our home of those things which we do not need.

~ Get my garden going!