Thankful

I can't believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Where does the time go?!? We are getting ready for a fun weekend, with some of my family coming to celebrate the holiday with us. Kylee and Owen had their last day of school yesterday, before a nice long break for the rest of the week. Kylee's class had an adorable Thanksgiving feast at their school lunchtime, with all 55 kindergarters gathered in one classroom. It was quite a group, and was standing room only for all the parent helpers who came to the feast! I was able to bring Madison into the class on both days this week, so I could help the teachers make the Pilgrim and Indian costumes- it was fun to be back with all the kids! And it was a very special day Tuesday, it made me think of how thankful I am to have such a great place to send my kids to school, and how thankful I am for our life that allows me to be a part of all the wonderful daily activities the kids are experiencing. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with loved ones... and lots of yummy food!

Two Weeks

Madison is two weeks old and I am happy to say we are survivng life with a newborn again. I hate to jinx it- so I'm crossing my fingers as I type this post- but things are going really, really well. As the kids would say, "Madison is an AWESOME baby." And she is- she has been a nursing champ, poops great, and sleeps contently for long periods of time. I get more visits from the older kids during the night, who are having a week of scary dreams. And since I'm up comforting them, I wake Madison to nurse and change like one time, and then she's back to sleep til I get up to start the daily routine at 5:30. I don't know if it's because it's our third time doing this, or if it's because Madison just ROCKS as a newborn- or maybe it's becuase this is the first time around that we weren't frantically constructing a home to move into while living in a trailer... we had a nice cozy home already made to bring her home to. It really makes a big difference having a place to rock and change a newborn, plus easily accessible laundry is a huge plus. We've been doing cloth diapers this time around, which was fully inspired by my friend Jessey, who is a pro at using and MAKING her own cloth diapers for her three kids. It's going really well, just a little more laundry than usual, and a really GOOD feeling about not creating all that waste and not forking out a ton on the disposable dipes- I had the most satisfying moment as I walked through Target last week and didn't have to pick up one of those huge, expensive boxes of huggies.

We are hoping we'll have another big money-saver this year other than the diapers, Wes has been working on a new project with any spare time he gets. Last winter, the cost of propane was insane- we let the bills pile up and pretty much tackled them by the time summer rolled around. It has been weighing heavily on our minds as the weather is getting colder, and Wes decided we could heat our house more efficiently and cost effectively with a wood stove. We've got access to wood easily, and we are hoping that this will save us this winter as far as bills go, and still keep our newborn and kids warm. So, a few weekends ago, my handy husband got to work on the frame for the stove's "raised up" location in our dining room. The kids have enjoyed having a project to help daddy with... they unloaded every single stone from the trailer and wheel-barrowed them in and layed them out for Daddy and Grandpa- who helped out with the masonry. Lately, Wes has been out splitting wood after work til dark, and Kylee and Owen love stacking it and chatting with Dad about their day. This project has been a great way for the kids to have some special attention from Dad during all the changes at home, and they love making us proud by being "good workers" like Daddy. Here are some pics along the way.

The kids unloading all the stone

Laying out the stone

The frame

The stove is set!

And finally, the kids have really adjusted well to our family of 5. They love their sister, and always want to know where she is, what she's doing, and when she'll be able to play with them. They love showing her off to their friends and teachers... and are doing their best to help mommy- ESPECIALLY with our weekday mornings. Our school routine is the trickiest part of the day. Wes has been starting work a little later some mornings, so he'll drop Kylee off every now and then on his way to work- which is a huge help and gives Kylee a few special minutes with Dad, and mom a few more minutes to get Owen motivated and ready for his day. And this week, our weather has been beautiful, so I've been loading the stroller with my 3 kiddos and walking them- which is also a lot easier than the whole "in and out of car seats" routine. Also, the walking is great for mommy- who has been confusing many kids with my having a baby in the car-seat, and yet still having a tummy. Owen tells them that Madi is the baby that came out of my tummy, and there is now a "boy" baby in my tummy. Kids- gotta love 'em! I'm off to do some sit-ups in hopes for a quicker departure of the belly!

November 4

November 4, 2003 was an election day, as well. That election day, 5 years ago, we were sitting in the hospital with our newborn baby girl, Kylee. Well, today, Kylee turned 5 and shared in all the excitement of this year's presidential election. When she woke up I said, "Today is your special day, birthday girl!" And she said , "We also vote for President today." She made sure to check in with many of those who called with birthday wishes... to see if they voted and who they voted for. Who knew she'd be so into the political process?!? Here are some pictures from Kylee's day...

Kylee with her #5 pancake

The kids at Kylee's birthday morning breakfast

Great Grandma Joy comes to see the birthday girl, and to meet the new little one that was named after her.
Happy 5th Birthday, Ky- we love you!

Our Baby Story

I know in my last post, I said I was going to post more frequently, well... since I last sat at this computer A LOT has happened! Since I totally failed to write frequent updates about the arrival of our 3rd baby, I'll backtrack and try to summarize the very EXCITING events of our Halloween 2008.

Thursday, when I last posted, I was having a day of contractions, that tapered off in the afternoon and I figured we were not having a baby that day. I tried to rest because I hadn't slept much the night before, but the kids were excited for the Halloween events that were coming up on Friday... so they tried on their costumes. We headed to Lewiston, which is where most of Wes' family lives, and they did their Trick-or-Treating at the Great Grandmas and Grandma's house.

Here are the pirate, Great Grandma Joy, and Rapunzell the night before Halloween

We stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner, and I did my usual Thursday night bookkeeping for the Construction company. I noticed my contractions getting more intense, and after talking to the nurse at the hospital, we decided to leave the kids with the grandparents and start on the drive to the hospital. We made it to Red Bluff in just over a 1 and a half hours, trying to drive safely on the newly slick from rain, and foggy mountain roads. When we arrived, it was 10 pm, and the contractions were about 3-5 minutes apart and very painful. I was a bit dissappointed to find out I was only 4 cm dilated and still had a long way to go. Wes' parents drove down the mountain with the kids, his mom came in and joined us, while his dad and the kids slept in the van. Within the first hour there, I quickly progressed to 7 cm, but was beyond exhausted between contractions and eagerly awaited the arrival of Andre, who was called in to give me my epidural. Just before 1:30 am, things got exciting. My parents arrived from Oakland in time to join us in the delivery room, and the nurse called my Dr. in because I was 9 3/4 dilated, and my water still hadn't broke. But I was having constant strong contractions, that were even felt on top of my epidural. My Dr. arrived at 1:35, and after a quick hello, and 2 1/2 short pushes, our newset daughter was born! Madison Joy Scribner entered the world surrounded by loving family at 1:50 am, October 31, 2008. That's right, she's a Halloween baby- weighing in at 8 lbs, 7 oz and 21 inches long!


Mom and Dad take a first look at their sweet little girl

Here she is on the warming bed

With mom

Grandma Linda

Grandma Sue

Kylee meets her new sister for the first time!

Sisters!

Owen is not too excited about waking up at 2:30am to greet the baby!

Madi's first bath with our lovely nurse, Eileen

Daddy swaddles his newest princess after her late night bath.


We are so blessed, she is absolutely healthy- slept wonderfully the first night, is a champion at breastfeeding, passed her hearing test and pediatrician check-up, they cleared us to go home with an early release that day. We had an amazing hospital stay at St. Elizabeth's, we had incredible nurses and pretty much a whole wing to ourselves since there was only 1 other woman admitted that day. Here's a link to the hospital online nursery- where you can catch another glimpse of her if all my pictures aren't enough!
Here are some Halloween daytime pictures at the hospital:


Madison looks super cool in her hearing test headphones

Friend Jen and little Jimmy come up for a visit.

Jimmy wants to scoot Madi around the room in her bassinette.

Heading home with our new baby girl

All ready for the road trip.


We were back on the road by 5 pm on Halloween, and home just as the kids were finishing trick-or-treating on Main Street with Grandma and Auntie Amy. Both sets of Grandparents, Auntie, and Taylor helped make a nice family dinner and get the kids all settled back in with us and our new baby after a very exciting and tiresome 24 hours!


And now there are THREE little munchkins!

Owen was much happier to meet and play with his cute little sister at a more reasonable time of day!

The boy cousins, Owen and Taylor, welcome baby Madison

After a sleepless couple of nights, Mom and Dad are completely exhausted, but glad to be home with a healthy baby girl.