home sweet home.

we are finally home!

our trip to cali was great...but it's so nice to be back in our own surroundings.

i will be posting pics from our trip, but first wanted to say that i hope ya'll had a happy thanksgiving!

we are thankful for our 4 little people who drive us absolutely crazy most of the time...

what were you thankful for this year?

i am still alive.

it's been a while since i've graced this blog with my presence.

i apologize 'bout that.

we are in california...yes, we traveled with a 3 week old, 2 year old, 4 year old and a 5 year old, all the way across the country.

phew.

i'm tired just writing that.

it was a long day of travel, but we made it.

only a few freak outs (by me mostly).

and now we are here.

freezing our tooshies off.

but enjoying a change of season.

i won't be updating with pics till we get home...

a few random things:

1. kohen scout is 4 weeks old today. still not loving the name kohen. wishing it was scout. thinking about just calling him that. but i'd be the only one. he might get a little confused.

2. you can still vote for hadley to make it on the cover of scrapbooks etc.

here is the link: CLICK HERE

i've made it so easy for you. thanks to all of you who have voted already...and to those of you who haven't? i'm going to hunt you down and leave a poopy diaper on your doorstep.

j/k.

but i do have plenty of poopy diapers to do such a thing.

3. i'm wishing i was sitting in the theater watching new moon right now.

instead, i just have to watch the trailers on the internet and oogle over jacob.

sorry keith.

okay, my internet friends, tis time for me to go.

i probably won't update till we get home after thanksgiving.

who wants to read my pointless ramblings anyways?

yah, i thought so.

let's decorate.

so now that baby kohen is here, we can finally get started on a room for him.

(mr. anderson is probably cringing right about now---)

right now, hadley and caedmon share a room.

milo has his own room.

and kohen shares with us.

we will be rearranging soon.

the new set up will be caedmon and milo in a room.

hadley and kohen in a room.

hadley is our late sleeper...the boys tend to wake up very early, and they in turn wake her up.

so, we figured she would do best with the new baby.

if only little kohen was a little olive (our name if we had a girl).

i had some really cute pink room ideas.

oh well, we love him anyways.

and i've been perusing the 'net for some inspo and i've found it!

so, for the walls...how about some stripes?

i'm loving the teal/blue and white stripes.

here was my inspiration for the room---this fabric:

i thought that it would work well for a boy/girl room.

here's some orange i've ordered as well.

for the decor---how about this fun banner idea:

definitely think i want these birds--they would look cute on the white stripes:

i also love these flower vinyls:

and of course...no nursery is complete without a mobile:

i'm so excited to get started on hadley and kohen's room.

milo and caedmon will be up next!

what do you think?

if you have some inspiration, let me know!

the all natural club.

photo taken by sarah bray

i feel good saying that i am now part of the "all natural club"...meaning i gave birth with no drugs.

the first 3 were all in hospitals, with IV's, epidurals and everything else that comes with a hospital birth.

little kohen was at a birthing center, with a midwife...no drugs...no IV's.

it's amazing to me that i showed up, had a baby, and went home...without having to be hooked up to anything. i didn't have to be monitored. i was able to eat or drink the whole time.

i started having contractions friday morning (after about a week of having off/on contractions). thursday evening i decided to mow the lawn to see if that would get things moving. and i guess it did :)

anyways, all day friday i had contractions.

i decided that at 1:00 in the morning, it was time for us to head to the birthing center.

thanks to amy for coming over with her little man and staying with our kids. it meant a lot to us!

keith and i arrived at the center at about 1:45 am...and i was dilated to a 4.

the midwife had another woman laboring downstairs (the place is set up in an old bed and breakfast) so after she checked me, she went back downstairs and left keith and i alone for about an hour and a half.

i felt my contractions getting a little bit more intense, but it was nothing that was unbearable.

when she came back up, she checked me again and i was an 8!

so, at that point i decided to get in the tub...i had planned on having a water birth, but ultimately ended up delivering on the bed.

the tub was so relaxing! don't get me wrong, the contractions were still painful, but it was so nice to be in hot water!

i labored in there for about an hour, and then felt the need to push.

kohen was face up (supposed to be face down) so i was having lots of back labor...which then made pushing really hard.

amazingly though, my contractions never got closer than 3-5 minutes apart. even at the end. that was a God thing, cause i would not have been able to handle anything closer than that.

i don't even know how long i pushed, but he was born at 5:35 am.

that was the hardest thing i've ever done.

my immediate first thought was "i am never doing that again!"

but, of course, it was all worth it, because little man was here and he was healthy.

he weighed in at 7 lbs. 4 oz.

after he was born, i got to just lay there and snuggle with my new little bean. nobody took him away from me to perform tests...it was just him and me (keith went and slept in the other room).

so, i fell asleep with kohen laying right there with me.

it was wonderful!

at 10:30am (a mere 5 hours after i gave birth) i was ready to go home, so keith and i packed up and headed home to the troops.

the troops, of course, loved him.

they were so excited.

and now we are adjusting to life as a family of 6.

there you have it.

the condensed version of the birth of little kohen.

4 years ago.

sweet, hadley bean was born.

our lives are so much fuller with her in it.

she's the tomboy amidst our 3 boys, yet still loves to be girlie.

she is the one with the bug jar, saving the bugs (all while dressed up as a princess), while the boys are squealing at how she's touching them.

i just love her.

today, we are once again reminded, how blessed we are.

i am so thankful to have a daughter.

happy birthday HB!

this past week.

a few things i've learned this past week.
1. life is crazy.
2. 2 hours of sleep is like heaven on earth.
3. milo's tooshie is ginormous now that i have a newborn to compare it too.
4. hadley can't ever remember if kohen is a boy or a girl, and constantly calls him a "she".
5. you can never check out enough movies for the kids, from the library.
6. i'm a milk machine.
7. i'm so thankful for friends who are willing to help us out during this transition.
8. that mr. anderson says the dumbest things when he's half asleep, in the middle of the night.
9. that showers and brushing teeth are overrated.

10. that 4 kids is more fun than 3 :)

baby kohen-1 week old.