Meet Kate

She's here!

With as much joy and pride as can fit in one mommy's heart, I'd like to announce the arrival of Miss Avery Kate Spencer born on June 21, 2011, via induction. She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. And she's got a head full of dark hair!

The delivery truly could not have gone any better. The doctor that delivered her was the same doctor that delivered Ashley, one of my favorites in that practice. :) The nurses were wonderful. The day was smooth. My mom and my grandmother were in the room for the delivery which was really special. And because Jake's never been a cord-cutting kinda guy, my mom even got to cut the cord, which I'm pretty sure made her year. :)

We went in at 6am, got all set up with pitocin by 8. They broke my water soon after and a bit later did my epidural. All went totally smooth. Not long after the epidural, I was at 4 cm, then all we could do was sit back, visit with one another, and wait for my sweet baby to make her arrival. At some point, I think around 2pm, I was blissfully painless (thanks to my epidural :)) but knew from four other deliveries that the time was getting close. ;) So we called in a nurse and sure enough, 9 cm! Almost time. The great team of nurses and my awesome doctor got everything all set up, and after 3 pushes our sweet 5th baby girl entered the world. It was beautiful.

Not long after, Ashley, Emily and some of our family and friends came in to see her. The girls got to watch the nurse give her the first bath, which was cool. Our good friend Kory was able to capture some of it on his camera and put together this awesome video that we will forever treasure....

The next day, Jake brought the three little ones up to the hospital to meet her. And yes, it was a little crazy having 6 kids in that little postpartum recovery room, but I think all things considered, they did pretty good. :) Here's my very-long-much-less-glamorous video of that experience. :) I don't expect anyone to watch the whole thing, I'm mostly posting because I think the grandparents will get a kick out of it. :)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

(Disclaimers: 1.) Poor Micah had some bad experiences in hospitals before he came home and still gets really stressed when he's in one. Hence the look on his face for most of the video. 2.) Fixing little girl hair is not one of Jake's many fatherly talents, so please excuse the back of Abbys the girls' hair :))

Today is her 1 week birthday.

She's doing great, nursing great, sleeping... some... ;) and I have to say that I really feel great too. I certainly don't feel like I had a baby a week ago. For some reason I thought that each baby would be harder and harder on my body. And while each pregnancy is NO walk in the park, the postpartum time with Mabry and Kate have been much easier than I've anticipated. I kinda feel like a normal person again, and its wonderful. :)

And yes, Kate. We'd tossed around the idea of calling her Kate before she was born. When we saw that little face and as we're getting to know her little personality, she feels like a Kate. :) So baby Kate it is.

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Now that we are more settled into our new house, and now that baby Kate is here, I'm getting the first tastes of our new family rhythm. And I'm loving it. What a great new season. My heart is so thankful for the many blessings the Lord has showered (and is showering) over us.

This busy but blessed momma of six will check back in soon. Until then I hope you all are enjoying your summer!!

happy fathers day jake

im going to attempt to blog from my phone in honor of fathers day. for those who only keep up with me in blogland... yes we are finally in our new house and its amazing. yes i survived a week alone while jake had summer camp and no ive not had this baby yet. but in keeping with tradition of the last 3 an induction is planned for tuesday the 21st because this little girl is quite cozy and has decided she doesnt want to come out.

right now we still dont have internet at the house which hasnt been too bad because of our smartphones. but it is the reason for my blogging break. but lo its fathers day today and i cant pass this opportunity to brag on my amazing other half. even if for whatever reason my phone wont let me use capitalization or punctuation lol

aaaahhh jake. what can i say about this man. how can i express how truly incredible he is. jake was made for fatherhood. he has a sixth sense for it. he stepped into parenting almost 8 years ago just expecting to get his hands dirty and hasnt looked back.

sleepless nights.

a bzillion diapers.

baby food.

car seats and baby gear.

jake embraced all of it.

and did it all looking pretty hot in my opinion.

then came abby.

emotions.

confusion.

searching for answers and trying to figure out what life would look like now.

leaning wholy on the lord.

he stepped up to the plate.

supported me in all of my emotions.

loved our little girl with a fierce daddy love.

took on new challenges like they were nothing.

next challenge adoption.

a faith test in raising funds and traveling to the other side of the world.

lord knows what he went through over there. alone.

a new son.

the challenge of loving a child thats not yours by birth.

again lord knows the battles that have been faced with this um... busy little boy.

two more baby girls.

more sleepless nights.

more diapers.

meanwhile ashley and emily are leaving the baby phase and have become little girls.

naked barbies everywhere.

lip gloss.

ballet recitals.

spelling tests.

car pooling.

sisterly bickering from the back seat.

drama.

tears. lots and lots of tears.

and his job isnt over by a long shot.

hes got a house full of kids to help with math homework

teach to drive.

protect from boys.

marry off.

and two to help navigate life as adults with special needs.

and ya know based on what ive seen so far hes going to do it with amazing intuition and wisdom. a gentle loving firmness he could have only learned from his father... and heavenly father. what an incredible dad. not because of the things that have been thrown his way but because of the way he receives them. his passionate love for his kids. his determination to raise them to love the lord.

jake i love you so much and i continue to stand in amazement. im humbled and honored to parent along side you. our kids might be too little to express their gratefulness for you on fathers day but i see it in their eyes daily. you are loved. and appreciated. be blessed today. happy fathers day.

Your weekly update: Uncreative juice

I've really been wanting to blog. Well... I guess I do blog. I should say: I've really been wanting to post. And to write. Something creative. But alas, my creative juices... aren't creative. And that just leaves juice. Yeah I don't know what that means either. Whatever.

Ok, so anyway, there is no lack of information and happenings to share, so I'm just gonna throw 'em all out there and hope you enjoy the update.

(This is in no particular, significant order by the way.)

The kids are done with school.

Ashley is officially a 2nd grader, which freaks me out a lot less than I thought it would. On the other hand, I'm totally an emotional wreck over Emily graduating from Kindergarten. (And I'm too tired to figure out the difference in why.) Micah and Abby will officially be changing schools next year because our new house is just inside a different county. I have mixed feelings about that too... I don't really want them to have to go through the process of new teachers/friends/routines/etc. but I also know the schools in this county are generally much better, so maybe in the long run it'll be a great thing.

We move into our house in 3 days.

While the nesting mother in me has been completely appalled and quite honestly, discouraged, by the previous nastiness that was in that house... I'm starting to get really excited watching the walls all be painted and the floors put in this week. Bye bye gross stuff that I won't even share on my blog; hello clean, new, big house!!! :) We paid someone to paint the whole house. If you know me, you know how painful that is. I LOVE to paint. Love the colors, love the smell, love that it creates something clean and new, love the satisfaction of results. But, I had to come to terms with the reality that I'm 35 weeks pregnant and that house is 3500 sq ft. Yeah.... not so much. So I picked all my colors, hired a friend, and its looking awesome. I also hired a friend to clean the bathrooms because of previously mentioned-- well... unmentioned I guess-- funk. Yuck. But as with the painting: weird to pay someone because I'm a mom and thats what I do. (I also used to do it for a living.) But again- 35 weeks pregnant, a strangers nasty bathroom germs, and hardcore cleaner fumes don't mix. And as with the paint- really happy about awesome results. :) :) :) And tomorrow all of the hairy, stained, royal blue carpets are being replaced. One word: Hallelujah. By Friday it'll be like a completely new house. It almost feels too good to be true.

Avery.

Ok, its time for me to start making my predictions. I think she's going to be one of my bigger (if not biggest babies). OR she'll be like Emily... small but muscular. Abby was, of course, the smallest at 5 lbs 5 oz. Mabry was the biggest at 7 lbs. 12 oz. Emily was 7 lbs. 1 oz. but had incredibly muscular legs (to no surprise by me). Avery kicks every bit as hard as Emily did if not harder. Hence my prediction: she'll either be big or just muscular. I also think she's going to have lots of hair. I had the most heartburn with Ashley and she had the most hair. I have more heartburn with Avery than EVER and she MIGHT come out looking like Rapunzel.

But of course now that I've said all of that she will come out at like 6 lbs and bald. What do I know. :)

I did have one little scare about a week ago. I felt this huge movement, not just a normal kick, and then a ton of chest pressure (but only when I would lay down) and then almost no movement from Avery for the next few hours. It really worried me. But I went in to see the Dr and she did a quick ultrasound which showed a healthy Avery Kate in a head down position. So we're gonna guess that big movement was her finally turning head down (maybe she was breech before?) and that the pressure was from her new position on my diaphragm. And of course she said that if I ever don't feel movement like that again, to go straight in. So that was the end of that and now she's back to her crazy strong, kicking self. If I post soon saying she actually broke one of my ribs, don't be surprised!

Ok well, thats my life right now. Shopping for light fixtures and doorknobs with 5 kids who are no longer in school, while being kicked in the ribs and breathing fire. Yeah, that sounds about right! ;)

Counting down

I kind of feel like my whole life is in count down mode right now.

1 Day until we close on our new house

5 Days until all four of my school kids are officially done for the year

8 Days until we move into our new house

5 1/2 Weeks until my due date

I was thinking in the car the other day that I don't want to live life in countdown mode. I want to live each day to the fullest regardless of what things we are waiting for. Knowing that each day my kids are still growing (and will never be this little again). Knowing that each day is bringing me closer to the end of this pregnancy (and unless God intervene's in some miraculous way, I won't ever carry a baby again). Knowing each day is bring me closer to the return of my King. Oh please, Lord, come!!!

Its not been easy to have that kind of eternal perspective lately. When everything in me wants to be done with this very difficult (yet short) season. But thats my goal. Not some huge, groundbreaking information, but thats my thought for the day. :)

A normal lunch

Today I had lunch with my mom. Just about an hour ago actually. Just a normal lunch: a twenty-something mom with 3 kids in tow, meeting her forty-something mom at a quiet mexican restaurant in the middle of the week. Just to catch up.

But do you know what a "normal" lunch looks like for me? I can't hold kids on my hip anymore because of my enormous belly, so I'm walking in holding 3 little hands with only two of mine. Somebody's gotta share. And because one of them has only been walking a few months and the other two have very low muscle tone, everyone is tripping over someone else and I'm quite sure it looks as if I'm just dragging my children in by their arms.

After we are seated, (and Abby has made sure to give everyone there a very warm welcome) Mabry decides she doesn't want to sit in her high chair but stand in it and Micah decides its best to hurl his sippy cup across the room because its not his beverage of choice. Abby immediately grabbed the salt shaker and shook it vigorously all over her menu with a look that said, "isn't this what I'm supposed to do as soon as we sit down?" Grateful to see my mom walk in for back-up, I try to sit... for a second. Abby lets me know through very clear words and signs that she's wet. But what she really means is that she just pooped water and its about to come leaking out. (You should know by now the graphic nature of this blog and read at your own risk.) So I reluctantly leave the other two with my poor mother, to change Abby. On the way to the bathroom she passes each booth (whom she's already greeted) with a "HI! Pooped!!" and a big cheesy wave and grin.

Which reminds me... does anyone know the weight limit for the Koala changing stations in public restrooms? This question was repeating in my mind as the door/table was creaking while I was cleaning up my 4 year old's little bottom, wondering how I would catch her if it came crashing down...

Back at the table, my mom and I tried to resume "normal" conversation. Yet somehow it kept coming back to- interpretation of Micah's sign language, how kids might get staph infections on their bottoms, what Abby ate last, and lots of other things that I had no intention of talking about when we made lunch plans.

Before the meal was over, I had one more trip to the bathroom with Abby, everyone there was exposed to the highest pitch of Mabry's voice box, and there was more food on the floor than in our stomachs. Except of course Micah, who literally licked his plate of guacamole clean.

But for me... all of this... is normal.

So if anyone would like to meet me for lunch to catch up, lets try to do it on the weekend. When Jake is home.

Mom I owe you another lunch date.

Tired but good

Aaaahhh to sit and update the ol' blog. :) Something I haven't done in far to long. But come to think of it, there are many things I probably need to do that I haven't in far too long. To all of you whom I owe an email back, forgive me, I promise I haven't forgotten. :)

The truth is, I don't get on my computer much these days.

Right now I type this with a very poor internet connection from the "living room" (I'm chuckling to myself right now that I'm even calling it that) of our humble hotel/suite. We've been here for a week and have one more week to go. Per a friends' suggestion, I'm going to share with you what its like in our tiny quarters. You walk into the very small, said living room with a fold out couch, coffee table, a dresser and TV. Then there is a two person table that connects it to the kitchen: a small fridge, a mini microwave, a sink and two electric burners. There is one door to a full bathroom and another door to a bedroom which has a king size bed, a desk, and another dresser with a TV. Surprisingly there's another full size bathroom in that bedroom.

Yes, its tight with 7 people, but it actually works. Micah and Abby sleep on the floor next to our bed (on cozy palates that I secretly think might be softer than our mattress), Mabry's pack n'play is in the 2nd bathroom (for those who know me, putting pack n'plays in bathrooms and large closets is nothing new! :)), and Ashley and Emily share the fold out couch. So really its not a bad setup. No one is getting much sleep, but hey, we've all got a cozy place to lay down. :)

At mealtime (and yes I've been cooking... creatively...) Micah and Abby sit at the coffee table, Mabry sits in her trayed booster seat on the floor, and the girls sit at the table. Jake and I either eat standing or "facilitate" the kids while they're eating and just eat when they're all done. The kitchen has one pot, one skillet, one spatula and a few dishes. So we've had tacos, spaghetti, hot dogs, sandwiches, and a few meals out. :)

Its not in our town but close enough. Jake is still taking the girls to school every day and I'm just driving the little ones into Spring Hill for school a couple of days a week.

Oh and Florida! Well... it was an adventure. :) Me, my friend, 9 children and a babysitter. We lived. (Because I don't have a great connection here, I've opted to only post the pics of that on FB, so if we're FB friends, you'll have to check them out there.) Lets see.... the plan was to leave out after church on Sunday (Easter). But because something MUST go wrong, Abby threw up all over herself minutes before we had to leave for church. The next few hours after that were, um, interesting. My mom came to my rescue as I waited for my friend to get out of church... and those were a couple of interesting hours that Mom and I don't even want to remember so I'll move along in the story. (Thanks again, Mom) :) So I met up with D'Arcy and we hit the road around lunch time and had what I would consider a fairly successful caravan to Florida. (Side note- Abby never threw up again, thankfully!)

Our week was good, but extremely tiring. Micah really needs to NOT be away from his Daddy that long. He knows exactly how to push my buttons. And he's a professional escape artist who nearly gave me a heart attack... a couple of times. The other kids did okay. Just the usual stuff- the girls wanted to talk my head off 24 hours a day, bicker with one another, and perfect their love/hate sister relationship. The other highlights: we went through more sunscreen than I thought was possible, we watched the tail end of the Royal wedding, Ashley, Emily and Micah are all a little braver in the pool, Mabry and Abby finally made friends with the sand on the beach, and we made more memories taking late night walks to the Sugar Shack.

At the end of the week, I had to drive back a couple of days earlier than D'Arcy. Yes, I was a little nervous driving the 8 hour drive home alone, in my 3rd trimester, with five children, 3 of which are in diapers and the other two not old enough to be considered help when you're traveling. (In other words, if I had to pee, we ALL went in.) But actually, it went surprisingly well. Except for that one incident when Micah opened his door while going 70 through downtown Birmingham. That was a little scary.... ANYway...

I still say I'd rather be busy at the beach than busy at home. :) And I DID get a little start on a summer tan, even with a baby on my hip. :)

Last but not least, baby Avery is kicking my butt. Well... my abdomen I guess. :) She's a strong baby, and reminds me a lot of Emily in the womb. Extremely active but to the point of being painful. I've gained decent weight (though I lost a couple of lbs at the beach, lol, no big surprise there!) but I've been having these weird nauseous/dizzy spells the last couple of days. And the exhaustion is really getting to me too. I think I could sleep 12 hours at night AND take naps and still be tired... just can't seem to catch up. :/

Ok, well, speaking of sleep, its off to bed for this tired momma. We still plan to close on the house May 20th, so please keep us in your prayers. I can't wait to share pics of our new beautiful house when this whole escapade is over!