5/20/08 ~ Well, we survived Texas...barely!! When we were leaving on May 2 the roads were closed due to SNOW on our original route, so good old Mapquest...found an alternate route quick and still got on the way. Was planning on going down through Colorado, but ended up going through Utah instead. It worked out though, because Tilly got to go to a dinosaur museum! She was SOOOO excited! Got pictures of her with 'Momma Dragons'... too cute! We also got to go to Four Corners. That was pretty neat. The girls thought it was way cool being in four states at once! We were only supposed to take two days getting to Texas, but it took us three. We were stuck on the interstate for two hours west of Albuquerque because of a wreck! If you don't think THAT was fun with four little girls! Ugghh... Lena was getting way hungry AND grumpy! We finally were able to get off and feed her and let everyone out of the truck for a few minutes. When we got back on the interstate we had only traveled about 5 miles and were stopped AGAIN! This time it was just construction, but we were stalled again for almost two hours! The girls and I had ALL had enough! By the time we got past Albuequerque and with still 9 hours to get to Alpine, Lena made it clear in no uncertain terms that she was done traveling for the night! LOL I found a motel and we crashed. The girls were so wound after being in the truck for so long! Lena laid on the bed and kept squealing at the top of her lungs! It was too funny! She was VERY happy to be out of her carseat!

Alpine was great...Laramie thought she had to entertain us every day, so we went to Fort Davis, The Big Bend Museum, out to her boyfriend's bosses' ranch to see the mares and foals, over to the arena to ride Lar's horses, hitting the tourist section of Alpine and getting everyone souveniers...then graduation on Saturday! Yep, a busy fun filled week! It was in the 90's every day so that was quite a shock for our winter acclimated bodies! LOL Tilly would melt every afternoon, but refused to nap. Lena would sweat when being held to nurse...we'd BOTH be dripping afterwards! Luckily the trailer we were staying in (horse trailer with living compartment) had air conditioning, so we'd go chill most afternoons! :0)

Laramie wanted me travel home through Nevada with her to visit friends, but I just didn't have it in me...that would have been another 600 miles of traveling. I think the girls were just as glad to get home! We traveled home through Colorado like we planned when going down and hit SNOW again on the way home! What a shock...going from 90 to the 30's in a matter of hours! Denver was a mess and so crazy with traffic! Makes me really appreciate the country life, that's for sure! Wouldn't want to have to drive through that every day! I love driving out here where the most you encounter is a herd of antelope, a few deer or a lone coyote. Yep.... wouldn't trade the country life for nothing! :0) The weather has been great here the past few days... in the 70's which is PERFECT! It's supposed to cloud up and rain for the next week though...ugghh.... I'm enjoying nice weather, that's for sure!

So now we're home waiting for the next two weeks when school will be out and not having to do that every day. Got Lena's FIRST set of shots yesterday and Tilly's catch up ones... yep, we're WAY behind, but being snowed in this winter put us off track! LOL She's getting a little grumpy, but overall is handling it well. They never affected Tilly at all, so was hoping Lena would be the same! She gets set two in 4 weeks, then again in 4 weeks to catch her up... poor baby! At least she'll be done for awhile! I had them weigh her and she weighs 19 lbs 3.8 oz... definitely growing!

Well, gotta go fix Tilly lunch.. she's wanting to eat outside with the puppies! LOL Hope everyone is well and your babies are healthly and happy!

4/27/08 ~ Holy Cow! Two more months have gone by! LOL Been busier than a beaver in an aspen patch...HAHA Getting ready to head to Texas on Friday, WHOOOHOOO!! Can't wait to get there. Especially since we got three fresh inches of snow last Thursday, then got another 2 Friday night! It's beautiful out today though. Actually put on the bikini (that was a sight!! Uggghh) and went out and got some rays until the wind started coming off the snow drifts up the canyon, then I headed for the house! HA Decided to TRY and not be quite so white when I hit the sunshine, but I'm afraid I'll still be lookin' like a WHITE BEACHED WHALE! I didn't have money to buy Laramie a graduation present (spending it all on just getting to Texas!) so she's always complained that I didn't have any baby pictures of her, so I went through ALL the old pictures and OMG! I filled ONE WHOLE ALBUM with her first year of life!! I put years two - five in the next one and then did one of all her horse show, rodeo, queening, and her horse from when HE was a baby...LOL I then took all the studio photos her from from the time she was born, then all her school photos and made one and framed it. It's on here, if you care to look. I think it turned out really well, if I DO say do myself! So, for her college graduation, she's getting herself in photos...LOL Hope she loves it! I've still got so much to do to get ready. Have to get my truck in and get it serviced! Still gotta get the last minute things too... then bake my buns off so we won't have to stop and spend so much money on food on the way down! Mickey Donald's adds up!

Lena will be 6 months old in three more days and that just doesn't seem possible at all! She's had rice cereal with breast milk the past three nights and thinks she's a BIG girl now! She's still smiley as all get out! I was commenting on that to my mom yesterday and she said she takes after her momma. My mom said I was the same way! Guess I get to take claim for the sweet baby I have! I'm gonna anyway!! LOL Tilly turned 3 on the 17th. That just amazes me too! They grow up SOOOO fast!

Well, hope everyone is fine and well and your babies are growing by leaps and bounds! Take care and keep smilin'! I'll update when I get back from Texas!! :0)

2/28/08 ~ Wow....two months have gone by! Time sure flies when you're busy with a baby!! And an 11 year old (who just had the 'class' at school about reproduction, menstrual cycles, all the FUN stuff... her reaction was TOO funny!) and a 7 year old who THINKS she's 21 AND a soon to be 3 year old who thinks she's IN CHARGE! WHEW!! Yep, life is exciting!!

Lena is growing like a weed. She weighed 15 lbs 12 oz and was 23 3/4 in last week when I took her to the doc! She had the cold, cough crud the girls brought home from school, but ended up being RSV! (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) She ended up on oxygen and nebulizer treatments, poor baby. She's doing well now, but it sure wasn't fun listening to her wheeze! My oldest daughter is asthmatic and was on the nebulizers when she was young. The 'machine' was her best friend and we had one for the house and one for the car. When I heard Lena wheezing it brought back all those awful memories of poor Laramie and I was hoping and praying we weren't going through that again! I was RELIEVED when they said the swab for RSV came back positive! LOL Kinda funny when you're praying a test will come back positive with an illness, but I'd rather it be something that will go away instead of something that we'll have to deal with forever! Fifth disease is going around the school now too. Both the older girls had it already! Guess Pete is right when he says it's not a school, it's a disease center!!

Lena is growing and changing so much every day, it's amazing! She watches people from across the room and will cock her head clear around to watch, even looking upside down. It's too cute! She SCREAMED the other day in delight. It was too funny! She's very ticklish and loves to play. She's trying to roll over from her back to belly and has gotten almost over, but gets stuck on her arm. She'll get that figured out pretty quick, I'm sure. I'm heading to town tomorrow and hopefully find her a jumper. She loves to jump and stand up, so I'm sure she'll love one. She hates to sit in her baby swing and babyseat now. She lifts her head trying to sit up, then arches her back and pushes with her feet. She's squirmed out of the babyseat, so we don't put her in it anymore! The swing is dropped down enough in the butt area to keep her in for now. She's been reaching for the sides of it, so I'm sure if she gets ahold, she'll pull herself out! She thinks she's much older than her 16 weeks!

Spring is almost here and I can't wait to get outside with the girls! I took Lena out two days ago as it was really calm and warm (a whopping 25 degrees!). I took scraps out to the chickens, turkeys and guineas to feed them, so she got to experience the 'birds' for the first time. She was in awe!! LOL Especially when the turkeys would gobble! Her eyes were so big! Sierra and Kassidy are bringing home a puppy this weekend from their dad's, so that will be interesting!! Our old dog avoids Lena as Tilly keeps her busy feeding her half her food all the time! It's pretty cute... a girl and her dog!

Tilly just went in and 'pooped and pee'd' without my help! WOOHOO!! She's getting better! Usually she wants me in there, but she just called from the bathroom needing toilet paper! LOL She's growing up. She can count to six, although she skips 4 every now and then. Not bad for a 34 month old! She loves to tell me what time it is, although it's ALWAYS 5...HA She knows the girls get off the bus at 4 and will ask all afternoon if it's 4 yet.

Well, Lena just woke from her nap and is yelling at me for attention! LOL Hope everyone is well and the babies are happy and healthy! Keep smiling!! It's almost summer!!! :0)

12/28/07 ~ Christmas was wonderful this year. The girls were spoiled rotten and my son who is 22 made it here and stayed for a week. It was great except for the fact that Tilly is scared to death of him! She doesn't see him enough, that's for sure! She hid from him the whole time he was here and cried if he came near her! She's definitely going through a phase where she's scared of strangers. She's only seen her brother a handful of times since he lives in another state. Hopefully she'll get over this by May as we're driving to Texas for their sister's college graduation! It's gonna be a LONG drive if she's still scared of him by then! Sierra and Kassidy are excited about the trip since they'll get to skip almost a week of school. The school probably won't be happy, but this is something that none of us will miss! I can't believe that I have a baby graduating college and one that is 8 weeks old! LOL When I told Laramie I was pregnant with Lena, I told her it was her fault because she had grown up and moved away, so I had to keep having babies so I'd have kids with me and not be lonely! LOL

Lena is 8 weeks old now and I've started calling her Smiley because that's all she does! She is so sweet and so cute and just beams when you talk to her. She is starting to make all kinds of sounds and the expressions on her face as she's 'talking' are to die for! LOL She's going to be a ham just like Tilly, I'm afraid! She's growing like a weed! The 0-3 month size clothes are starting to get tight! She's wearing size 2 diapers. I have 2 packages of 1's that never got used! Luckily my nephew's wife is expecting... have I got a present for them! LOL Pete thinks we need to try for a boy since he says we definitely have the right recipe for making beautiful babies! I think he's NUTS!! LOL I'm ready to commit to Lena being my last! I just turned 43 last week and Pete is 53. Lena and Tilly have three nephews that are OLDER than they are! Yep, I think between the two of us, 10 kids is plenty!! I'm ready to just enjoy watching these two grow up like my other babies and enjoy doing things with all of them! And I say all this and sure as shootin' I'll end up pregnant again! LOL Guess I'd better be extra careful!!!!

Well, Tilly is over shooting her crossbow at her toys (she has them lined up in a row like a shooting gallery!) and she's getting a little wild with her aim, so I'd better go supervise!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! May your New Year be bright and shiney and full of happiness!! Keep smiling!!! :0)

My BIRTH STORY:

I was sound asleep when I felt something POP! I swear I not only felt it, but heard it! It woke me up. I was wide awake then, and trying to decide what it was when I had a contraction. I swear I felt the baby`s head move down about three inches! It was hurting and burning!! When the contraction was over, I went to the bathoom, trying to decide if my water had broke. I was leaking fluid, but in denial! LOL My husband got up and asked if I was okay. I told him I was trying to decide if my water broke. It was 6:05 a.m. Another contraction hit, and then they started coming, hard, one right after the other. They were about 2 minutes apart, then got closer and harder. I have NEVER had them that close and hard with any of my births! I always had a break in between. They were coming every 30 seconds by this point! My husband layed our futon down so I could lay down, then went out to do chores. We figured we had a lot of time as our last baby took 7 1/2 hours. When he came back in the house, I was on my hands and knees and pushing! I wasn`t trying to, but my body said, oh yes you are! About this time, our 2 yr old woke up. We had called her older brother to come watch her, but he was already on his way to work and hadn`t made it here yet! Pete brought Tilly out and told her Momma was having the baby. Good thing we had watched all those baby shows... it was no big deal to her! She watched like a trooper!! Squatting was definitely the easier way to push, but the baby`s head as so big it got stuck about half way out. My pushes weren`t getting us anywhere and I told Pete to HELP! He told me later that the baby`s head was blue, then went purple, then was turning DARK purple and he wasn`t going to panic me by telling me, but was going to pull with my next push without me knowing! I beat him to the punch! LOL It took a couple more pushes before the baby was FINALLY out! Lena Lee was born at 7:42 a.m. and weighed 9 lbs and was 20 inches long! We had her at home by ourselves, just like we`d planned, but it went MUCH quicker!! I`m still in shock that`s she`s here, but so thankful that everything went so quick and so well! We are DEFINITELY blessed!!

LOL...okay, so here's the update...

The placenta came out about 15 minutes after Lena arrived. I had a couple of contractions about 5 minutes after she was born that didn't do anything. The next one was very hard and I pushed and the placenta came out perfect. Pete cleaned up, bagged up the placenta, then we all just relaxed for awhile and enjoyed our little one. Pete went out and made phone calls to our families. We don't get phone reception at our house... have to drive down out of the canyon so the cell phones work! It's about a mile out before you get decent reception. My mom asked him if I had tore and he laughed and said he'd plumb forgot to check! I did too! HA With Tilly I had 'rug burns' as the doc put it, but hadn't torn since my second, which didn't require any stitches. When I went to the bathroom the first time after delivering her, I grabbed the hand mirror and looked. No tears anywhere! I do have one small spot similar to the Tilly rug burn and in about the same area that is a little tender and one hemorrhoid that I've gotten with every birth! Other than that, everything is good! As we are about an hour from the nearest hospital, it's a DARN good thing we planned on having her at home and bought the necessities. We wouldn't have made it there, that's for sure! We'd have had her in the truck on the side of the road!

Our state is one of those that it's illegal to have a midwife deliver at home, unless it's a certified midwife. The nearest I could find was across the state, which isn't practical, that's for sure! Luckily, my hubby thinks he is a pro. LOL This is his second home birth. He delivered his son that is now 20. At that time, the public health nurse came to the house, checked everything out and registered the birth. Our Health Nurse comes to our town once a month, which just happened to be the 1st, so Pete called her and she said the state no longer allows it as they could be liable if anything happens, so she couldn't come up and check us out. She did tell Pete everything to look for, which after all the kids we've had, we already knew! :0) We called the Vital Statistics office and they referred us to a dr. that we have to take her to, then they'll register the birth. He couldn't get through to them on Thursday, so we're waiting until Monday and calling again.

We're both doing really well. Lena was a pro when it came to nursing. She was about 30 minutes old and I layed her up on my breast. She started rooting around and sucked the nipple right in and started sucking away. She didn't need any encouragement or help latching on. My milk is already coming in (yep, I put Dolly Parton to shame when the milk comes in! HA) and she's a very content baby. I am truly blessed!

Thanks everyone for your comments and if I missed any questions, ask again...LOL I'll try to answer everything you ask!