HERES THE SCOOP...

I've had a number of folks ask me what the details were pertaining Ashers arrival...so like I said...here is the scoop: I had false labor the night before...I knew thats what it was. The contractions hurt, but they were not regular or growing stronger. I walked around and eventually got in the tub to ease any soreness. The next night...I woke up at 2:30 with contractions that hurt. These felt a lot like labor to me...it was in my back, and I had a lot of pressure. I got up and walked around...and around...and around...because I was SURE it was false labor. Finally...when it was not subsiding...I woke Cory up to ask him to help me time my contractions...he said...ok, and then rolled over and went back to sleep. (Thanks alot Cor!) My mom and dad were visiting for the girls birthdays, and since my mom was a labor and delivery nurse I woke her up and asked her to help me time contractions. She got up and helped me...but my contractions were not regular and were only about 30 sec or less. I was really skeptical. After all, he was not due until Aug 13th right? The pain was getting worse...so I decided to call the hospital...which I did not want to do, because I knew that they would tell me to come in and get checked...they have to say that. After this call I decided I would not be one of those women who go in only to have to be sent home (which I am known for.) I was going to get in the tub...but not before a contraction took my breath away...that was when I decided that I would at least get checked out...for Ashers sake. So I told Cory to get moving...and he did...he was brushing his teeth...putting on deoderant...and I said just what do you think you are doing? I did not brush my teeth...etc...I am leaving with or with out you...and then he could not find his shoes....ahhhhhh. We finally made it to the car, and drove quickly...we got to the ER and I begged the nurse to hurry to check us in. The chick that pushed the wheel chair went way too slow...so I told her to speed it up too. They put me in a triage room to monitor me for an hour. I was in lots of pain at this point. The nurse that I had was sooo sweet. She reminded me of my friend Leah Terry. She looked like her, and acted like her. I felt so bad because I kept demanding that she give me something for the pain...EVERY contraction...finally she said I cant give you anything because it could compromise your babys lungs...I said that I didnt want to hurt the baby, and that this REALLY hurt and that I wasn't really a pushy person...and I said tell her Cory...and he said "Well...." which I was not in the mood for his jokes. Anyways, they were planning on stopping my labor when we got in, but I progressed SO quickly that they took me straight to labor and delivery. When I got in there...the doc came in shortly afterward...had enough time to put on his gloves and robe, hear me beg for drugs, then after telling me no drugs, hear me beg to have my water broken...so he did, I immediately felt the need to push so I did and he came...so teeny tiny. When we left the house, Cory asked me if he should bring the camera...I said NO he is not coming yet. He cant. It is too early. I am in total shock that I had a baby at this point. I hate to admit this, but I had no idea that I was in true labor until she started wheeling me into l&d. Cory knew before me...it was all soo fast. We got to the hospital at 10 to 4 and had Asher at 5:04. I am glad that I did not get in the tub...we would not have made it. They gave me Asher to snuggle for a while...and then they took him to the warmer and gave him a little extra suctioning. His chest was pulling a little when he breathed so they took him to the NICU to monitor him...just a little mucus. 5 hours later he was in the regular nursery, and back in my arms. Because of his rapid fire delivery...his face was black, blue, green, purple...he must of hit every speed bump on the way out. The nurse that took care of us actually put a note on his bassinet for when they changed shifts so that nobody would try to recusitate him...the bruising faded quickly...his bilirubin was up as we expected, but nothing we worried over. I continue to feed him every 3 hours...I am really tired...but he is thriving. I had NO clothes for a preemie...so ...many friends and family showed up with a supply...thank you all so much! I feel so blessed to have baby number 5...how did we get so lucky?

UPDATES OF ASHER...

I absolutely LOVE this shot of the two boys...Eli looks so sweet to me, and Asher..so content!

MEETING THE SIBLINGS...

Getting to know you...getting to know all about you...getting to like you...hoping that you like me. Getting to know you...getting to know all about you...you are precisely...my cup of tea!

OUR LITTLE GUY...

BAT REMOVAL PROJECT....

This is our bat removal project. Our upstairs is entirely torn apart as you can see. New framing has to be done because the house was an old farmhouse and the boards are well...old farmhouse boards...he he he. We decided to have this done in order to BE DONE before our little one arrived, but he decided to come early. So...when it was time to come home...we didn't...we went to Corys parents home to stay. We are back into our home now, but the workers will not be finished until the end of the week. I am excited because the upstairs will look sooo much better, they are even painting it for me:) Apparently the biggest problem was above the ceiling in Isaacs room...yikes! Also, the guano in the crawl spaces was 12 in thick in places...disgusting. Here lies the problem and also the good of the situation. ALL of our belongings are in the kids playroom...WHAT A MESS!!!! But look on the bright side...we will be able to go through everything and we want to purge as much stuff as we can...THIS is the good part. I really hope that this job finishes up smoothly...they have done so much in a short amount of time! For those of you who would like to come over ....As soon as we can get our junk put away...I would love for you to visit!

HEY...GUESS WHAT? WE HAVE A PREEMIE !

Say hello to Asher James who decided to join us at 36 weeks!! Honestly, I really thought that I was having false labor...until it really started hurting...so I went to the hospital just to be on the safe side. We got to the hospital at 3:50 am and Asher made his debut at 5:04. I did not even bring a hospital bag...camera or anything...Sorry Rebecca...I really didnt count on a 36 weeker. Asher was 5lb 6 oz...19 inches long. He spent the first 5 hours in the NICU...He is doing well...a little sluggish feeding wise...but that is to be expected with a guy this early. I will post more pictures when I am feeling up to it...We are so excited...!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY GAYLE!!!!

Happy 5th Birthday to a girl after my own heart...who is not afraid to wear boots and bikinis...ha! I did not want to let the rest of this day pass without remembering to say Happy Birthday, and how much I love you Gaylie Lou Who!!! Today I took Gayle to get a hair cut. Her hair was quite long...and she wanted it short. We opted for shoulder length. Both girls had a great birthday...and I will post party pictures maybe tomorrow...we shall see!

BATS....CREEPY BATS...

Ok...here is the scoop on the BATS...(shiver...). We have had bats in our crawl spaces for years...they scratch inside the walls...and totally freak me out. Every year we get one or two that get out from somewhere. (We nailed the crawl spaces shut.) The other day I was feeling particularly creepy crawly and kept waking Cory up saying...I hear something squeaky...chirping. He kept saying that I was having a night of paranoia...I said ok maybe I am and then I saw something fly into our bedroom!!!!AHHHHHH....I freaked out again...he looked and saw nothing and begged me to go to sleep and let him get just a little bit of sleep. I said ok...I wasn't really sure if what I saw was true...I was sooo tired. So as soon as I turned over it started flying around the room....YIKES!!! Did I say I DONT like creepy crawlies? I put the covers over my head so it could not touch me, and Cory went to find his maglite to see it and beat it. I made him go through our entire room...shaking out clothes from laundry baskets...blankets...looking inside ANYWHERE it could hide...only to find that after the contents of our ENTIRE room was emptied into our living room that I heard the chirping sound upstairs...oops...it must have slipped out while my head was under the blankets...and he was looking for his maglite...Sorry Cory. The next day Cory looked for ideas on how to get rid of the bats for good. At first he was going to dry wall the upstairs...I told him I knew that the guano (bat poop) was really dangerous if you unsettle it...it could kill you...and to please dont. Some of his pals recommended doing what they did...take a shotgun and clip them on the way out...I dont think so...he found a website for a guy who calls himself bat man...to make a long story short...our house is being sealed up on the outside...once the bats are out...they will rip off the walls and ceilings...clean up the guano with special hepa vaccums, and then drywall our complete upstairs...and paint it too! Some of you have been to our home and know that there is really no storage space. Our entire upstairs is now in our childrens playroom...plus...we have an office table in our living room that I am sorting out laundry on, and all of my scrapbook stuff is underneath this table. I am trying to go through baby stuff...and now my house is an absolute shambles. luckily it has been nice outside so the kids are not stuck in our living room. I am due in minimum of 2 weeks I would say...and am stressed out...you want everything to be perfect...but it is worse than that. After the workers sealed the outside...somehow they found a hole inside the kids playroom...Cory trapped a bat yesterday...and got one today...I am not going to sleep tonight. The whole process is supposed to take 8-10 days. I am skeptical, but we shall see. Oh, by the way...we have very agressive brown bats...they are large. They have big teeth. There guano is coming through our walls...and I am not even allowed to WALK upstairs being prego...so we brought Isaac down too. I am stressed out just talking about it, and that is all for now. Good Night...but I wont sleep.

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY ESTHER!!!!

Happy 7th Birthday Esther Joy!!! This is very typical to find in my memory cards. Esther likes to take photos of herself, and not tell me. I found this one, and well decided to keep it. We had a birthday party for both girls on Sunday after church. (Gayle turns 5 on Wednesday) I will post pictures of the party when I have a little more time...Our world is sort of turned upside down at the moment...I will explain later...not the baby...we have a bat infestation...Like I said ...I will explain later:) At any rate...my baby girl is growing up so fast...and well, I did not want to let the day pass without wishing her the very best!!! I love you Essie McGuessie!

ELLA MARIE AND HER FAMILY...

Ella Marie was born on July 9th. She was 9lb. 3oz. 20 1/4 in. long. She is fabulously beautiful...and no one could wait to get their hands on her!!!!

Chris looked amazing as usual! Mother and daughter are doing well. I think Ella looks like Chris :)

Cliff is such a proud Daddy! Ella looks so small in his arms. So sweet!!!!

What a beautiful family!!!

BEAUTIFUL ELLA...

A PROUD UNCLE AND AUNT!!!!

OB APPT.

I had my OB appt yesterday. It seems I have lost weight again. At this point in pregnancy that is quite normal...but the strange thing is that I really haven't gained any weight this entire pregnancy...hmmmm. My blood pressure was up at my last visit...it was up even more at this visit. 130/92...not good. No swelling, or protien in my urine...soooo we will just keep an eye on it. I drove back from my appt around 2:00 and realized I hadn't eaten lunch...so I stopped at Wendys. I ordered fries...I was craving them soooo bad so I ordered the large ones. When I got to Corys parents house to pick up the kiddos...His mom said that all that salt wasn't going to help my blood pressure...obviously I had no idea what contributes to high blood pressure...so I told her I figured I would work on the gaining weight part...ha ha. Did you know that watermelon has a lot of sodium in it? I did not. Ive been living on it. Hmmm. Also...I had a blt at Elizabeths house a while back...and well I have been hooked! I add turkey on mine too....this is really salty too...but I have this sandwich at least 2x a week...AHHHHH. I resolve to do better. That's the update!

ITS A GIRL !!!!!

That's right!!! Its a girl!!! NO...not our baby...that's a boy...Corys brother and sister in law just had a baby girl yesterday!!!!! HOORAY!!! Cliff sent us a picture of beautiful Ella Marie...and some stats...9lbs 3oz. 20 1/4 in long. We are hoping to go see the new family today or tomorrow...whenever they are feeling up to company. We can hardly wait to get our hands on her...can you tell that we are excited? Well, that is an understatement...we are BESIDE OURSELVES!!!! I will post pictures of Ella after I check with Cliff and Chris to see if it is okay....:) CELEBRATE!!!

HI MICHELLE!!!

Dear Michelle,
Congrats on # 5 !!! I am sooo very excited for you!!! I am writing you this note...because I have tried so many times to access your blog and cant. I think I have to be invited...and I dont really know how that works...so if you do...maybe I can come visit you too!! Hope you and the family are all well!
Much Love,
Wendy

RSVP

Dear Rebecca,
I am so sad not to be able to come to the book exchange :( (REALLY SAD!) I have an OB appt today which I really need to keep...DRAT! I would have called you...but I dont have your number....I will have to get it from Elizabeth. I hope that everyone has a good time today...even without me...(sniff). Hopefully we can get together soon.
Much Love,
Wendy

BECAUSE WE THINK HE IS SOOO CUTE...

Readers BEWARE! The following is a VAST amount of pictures of our vacation...all out of order...WHY? Because most of the time, I don't know what I am doing. We had such a fabulous time, and I hope that you all aren't too bored...I don't know if I have mentioned how much I love this new computer...I never could have posted this many pictures with our old one...I might not have even tried one with the old one...We are truly blessed to have this...Thank you again Cliffy!!!! Enjoy the shots!

INSIDE THE WATER PARK...

There was a large play area on a second floor...you had to watch when you would walk down below to go from place to place...there were contraptions to pull on and dump water on the people below...I learned the hard way...and the grownups were the worst.

This giant bucket would fill up and then a bell would ring and it would dump over onto anyone who wanted to get drenched. Cory had to hold Eli or else he would have been blown away...this is huge...the picture doesn't begin to show it.

A small look at the waterslides...like I said...you just can't imagine the hugeness of this place...we had sooooo much fun. There was an outdoor pool with some fun things...we never got that far.

WINDING DOWN...OR MABYE GETTING WOUND UP!

TOO MANY PICTURES???

The kiddie area.

The lazy river.

Buckets of water may drop on you ....oh no!

Try the challenge at the lilly pad pond, and floating logs....it looks easier than it is.

MORE WATER FUN!