Emotions...

I have been dealing with many emotions lately. Some of them good and some of them bad. I really hate to admit it but most of the emotions I am dealing with are not so good. I am growing depressed by all of the relationships in my life that have fallen apart over the past year. I want to make them right but cannot find the courage to. For some reason I feel like there is no hope so why try? This could stem from my childhood, or simply from the Devil not wanting me to be reunited with certain people. I am also hurting in my marriage. Not because Kevin and I do not get along, but because we are under so much fire that we are simply breaking down. It is a rare day that one or the other of us aren't upset or angry about something. Kevin even told me I was biting my lip in my sleep last night! We need to get away terribly to renew our spirits but have nowhere to leave our children, and I have a hard time leaving the boys too. I fear that the boys are also being affected by the stress in the house. I know they can feel it! Our court dates keep getting pushed back, which is a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing because it means more time together as a family before possibly getting our patriarch taken away. A bad thing because it allows more time for us to fall apart from within, to worry about what might be around the bend instead of just getting it over with.

I really wasn't doing this bad before. I had a wonderful friend to talk to who always encouraged me with Bible verses and kind words. Kevin was also less stressed when this all started happening, and even though he didn't know it, he was my earthly rock because he was so calm about it all. People were more interested before and would talk to us and help us through this. Now that things aren't going very fast I guess people just assume we are ok for now. I don't know if anyone really reads my ramblings, but we are not ok. We are drowning and as much as we pray there are no answers. I know that sometimes answers come in their own time...but we need to see the light at the end of this tunnel. We have so many dreams and aspirations that we want to work on, but cannot see starting them with the uncertainty looming over our heads. Don't get me wrong, I know there is always uncertainty, but this is KNOWING something will happen in the near future and not knowing which way it will throw you. I just wish I had an encourager...someone on this earth I could talk to besides Kevin's family...until then I will just have to keep blogging on a downer day.

More photos!

Angry with myself...

Just trying to unload here to get it off my mind...

I am pretty upset with myself right now. I got thirty dollars to spend on myself for my birthday. Because we don't have much money I used it on the household things we needed. The reason I am upset is because I was upset that I didn't get to use it on the paints that I wanted to get with it...my supply is getting low. I realized I was just being selfish and got even more upset at myself!

...So when the person that gave me the money found out what I spent it on they went, "Uht, that's not a present!" Then the same person asked later when my last eye exam was...I replied that it has been 7 or 8 years. I got a raised voice at me again. I wanted to reply, "What? I am a wife and a mom, my family comes first." But didn't because I don't really stand up for myself.

Anyway, my question...if anyone is reading this is...I don't think I'm alone? Surely every mother gives up her wants and needs for her husband and children...right? I felt completely ostracized by this other mother for not doing for myself. Is it really so bad to give all you have for your family?

Well, this was just a late night rant so I could unload...and I know I probably contradicted myself but maybe now I will be able to sleep instead of thinking about it all night! Goodnight cyber world!

Newer pictures!!

It's been too long!

I have a lot going through my mind...thought I'd share in cyberspace and see what happens from there!

One big thing I am struggling with today is midwifery. I have found a few courses that would allow me to do all my training online and come out prepared for testing to be a CPM. Now CPM's are not legal in Indiana. However I could try to find a midwife to work with. There is one problem though...it's midwifery training and therefore cannot accept financial aid. They are working on this, but apparently it can take up to 5 years! The two courses I looked at were $21,000...not including the books and equipment, or the $2100 worth of classes I'd have to take beforehand. I am starting to think that I will never become a midwife! Kevin keeps on encouraging me, knowing full well it is my dream and passion. Someone else told me to try to study on my own and test out. I think I would do better with assignments and deadlines though!

Oh other things today are just drama, drama, drama! Woke up to Ephraim screaming bloody murder like he hadn't eaten in days (It had been two hours!) and Joel begging one of us to take him to the refrigerator! Then we had everything planned out...and that's where we went wrong! Ended up there was a lot of drama Monday night with some family members. Us, being the compassionate, caring people we are, got sucked into the drama. Not sure which side of the fence I am on with that drama! Found out that another family member and her daughter which just turned two were in a pretty bad auto accident. They will be ok, but obviously pretty shaken. I cannot imagine what I would do if I was in an accident with one of my children! Another family members husband has gone batty and tried to take on police. He is still "armed and dangerous, on the loose." They do not know if he has taken his own life or not as they have not heard from him in a while. I guess my great grandma is not doing very well. As soon as she was put in the nursing home she started forgetting people and also had to go on a liquid diet. The son of my former midwife is having seizures. As far as I know they still do not know what is causing them. Prayer for these burdens would be lovely. And I thank anyone who would pray.

Kevin and I discussed at length if we would start to allow people back into our lives. We didn't think it was right that my parents not be allowed to see their grand-kids once in a while. However, I'll have to admit that I was leery of letting them back in. In the end it was quick to forgive Kevin who said we should try. It seems to be ok so far. I know what a stretch this is for Kevin though. What should happen if this comes up in court, could letting people back in our circle jeopardize his future? He says he doesn't care, that it's the right thing to do...and in the word of the midwife, "if prison is where God wants me then that's where I'll be." Some days Kevin is so strong, and some days he struggles a lot. One of our many motto's is that we will make it, no matter what.

On a lighter note...baby updates! Joel has manifested himself as "class clown." The kid can make you laugh even when you've had a rough day. He can also make you laugh when you are trying to get him into trouble. He's cute and he knows it! He's also extremely smart! And he has many words...like what, why, pee (penis), E-um (Ephraim), shoes, eyes, who's that, what's that, chin, walk, Melmo (Elmo), nose, ear, me,dog, boo, boobie, Daddy, Mom, hi, bye. I am sure there's something I am forgetting...but you get the picture! Ephraim, I swear he can say hi...but then, I know he can't! He sure can talk your ear off though! Daddy and his brother get instant smiles from him. It takes a little bit of baby talk from me to get a smile out of him. Someday I may have a child that likes me better than their daddy...but I don't know cause he's such a like-able guy! Ephraim is a little sauna! He always seems to be much hotter than the rest of us! Although his hands and feet get clammy too! He is so big already too! Where did the time go? I suppose at 2am it is time to head for bed!

Ephraim's Birth Story!!

Finally! Sorry about the long wait!


With gestational diabetes, yet again, I risked out of home birth. I didn’t have to worry about a hospital birth last time with Joel. I really couldn’t tell you what it was about the hospital that worried me. I guess it could be all the stories I have read about what can happen at a hospital. A lot of times women do not really do their research into childbirth. Parents should really look into the pros and cons of everything that happens in childbirth. They need to look at the statistics of what is recommended by doctors. They need to be on their toes and ask “why?” A lot of times doctors and nurses use scare tactics without even realizing it. I didn’t used to think that way. I used to think that the doctors and nurses knew exactly what they were doing to women. Now I have realized that they are just doing what they have done for many many years. They are doing the normal day in day out routine. That routine is only broken when you find doctors, nurses, and parents that are educated enough to do something different. This is where Ephraim’s birth story begins…

I worked hard all night the night before induction to see what I could do about dilating and getting labor going. I tried peppermint oil, peppermint tea, peppermint candies, red raspberry leaf tea, walking, stairs, evening primrose oil, among other things. Some things helped bring on strong contractions but nothing stuck. My biggest fear going to the hospital was ending up with a c-section. When first risking out of home birth I considered just staying at home. However, not knowing how big Ephraim would be, and not having very much health training between Kevin and I, I decided it would be best to go where someone knew what they were doing in case something did happen to go wrong.

Early morning, Kevin and I (and Ephraim) ventured into the hospital. I was a little nervous as to what the day would bring. I went for induction on my due date, 06/09. We went through the routine of getting registered, checking fetal heart tones, blood pressure, and such. Not too bad. I was expecting to be uncomfortable with everything that was happening. I really wasn’t uncomfortable at all. I had met and talked to some of the nurses beforehand when I took my birth plan to the hospital. I was surprised when one of the nurses told me that they would try and make my experience as close to my home birth as possible. There were birth balls and rocking chairs to use for comfort. The nurse talked about how the OB unit talked about getting a birth tub, but they couldn’t figure out how to swing it. I thought, “Darn!” (Next mission, figure out how to get birth tubs or a birth center suite in the hospital!)

Anyway, back to the story…The doctor came in to break my water and see how I was doing. I had specifically chosen this particular doctor because he has been known to bend the “rules” if you know what you want and why. He agreed to only break my water and see where that took my labor. The day before my due date at the doctor’s office I was 3cm, maybe 4cm. When the doctor went to break my water he said that I was maybe a 4 or 5cm. I was hoping for at least 6cm, but I would take a little bigger than I was the day before!

When the doctor broke my water it was meconium stained which worried me a little. But the ol’ doc, who has been delivering babies probably as long as I have been alive, didn’t seem bothered by the meconium. Ephraim sounded great on the monitor so it reassured me that he was ok. Contractions started to come regularly at this point which helped me relax even more. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to relax if I went to the hospital and would end up having my labor forcibly augmented with Pitocin, per hospital policies.

The Ob unit was very busy, so my hopes of being left alone were fulfilled. Although, the nurses seemed very willing to only come in when they had to anyway. I didn’t get strapped to a bed. I knew I wanted to be up and active because of the bad back labor I had with Joel. I didn’t get, nor did I want, the routine IV. I knew it would hinder me from moving around even if it was just a lock. This was one thing the nurse was a little persistent about because of the possibility of caesarean, just to have it in and ready to go in case of such an event. The nurse left the room to let Kevin and I talk about it to see what we wanted to do. While she was away Kevin and I discussed why I wasn’t comfortable with an IV and what would happen if I needed a caesarean and didn’t have an IV in place. We decided it was better in the long run for me to be comfortable and get a last minute IV if need be. So we told the nurse when she came back in that we were going to opt out of the IV and she said, “Ok!”

I labored on a few more hours. At one point my nurse came in and said another nurse asked her why she didn’t hear any noise coming from my room. I’m not a noisy person anyway, but I do also know that some women get extremely noisy from fear and even as a coping method…that’s not me, we went to the hospital was for just in case purposes not in fear and I don’t use moaning as a coping method. Anyway, I took the nurse noticing that there was no noise as a compliment to my ability to be calm and having everything together during labor! I started to feel pushy and was so happy to be getting close to seeing Ephraim! It must have been around lunch time because the doctor was there and he asked me if I wanted to know where I was at. I told the doctor that I would hate to be one of those women who thought they were pretty far along and still be at 6cm. But, hmm, no group b strep, no other infections, sure, I guess I’d like to know. I could have died when the doctor told me that I was 6cm! I thought crap, I am one of those women who think they are ready to push at 6cm! Well, feeling pushy didn’t really get any better from there. The feeling increased slowly over the next couple of hours. I didn’t think much about it because I apparently wasn’t moving along very fast. It must have been around 2:40 pm or so when I had Kevin go with me to the bathroom. I had him escort me because I was having some really strong contractions. While in the bathroom I felt REALLY pushy, almost undeniably so. Although, it’s me, I was in denial still. Kevin asked me if I’d like him to go get a nurse, I think his instincts told him that it was time.

When the nurse came in I told her that I thought I may have pushed a little. She calmly asked if I’d like for her to check me. I repeated my concern of thinking I was further than what I really was and I’d be disappointed. I decided to head to the bed anyway to get checked, maybe this time it would be good news. I stood by the bed through a strong contraction and afterward crawled up to be checked. One nurse told the other to get the doctor on the phone and tell him I was feeling pushy, that he didn’t need to come yet just needed to stand by. As the nurse was putting the bed down it was all over! My fears of being 8cm dilated were totally unfounded. My body gave two big pushes and I heard the nurse say. “Never mind tell him she’s pushing!” I don’t know how the doctor did it, but he made it from across the road, it seemed just in time. The time I spent on the bed before Ephraim was born seemed to go so fast! I asked Kevin a little later how long I was pushing, he thought maybe 10 minutes.

The nurses, knowing that I wanted to be off my back to push, got me up off my back and to the squat bar that they had hurriedly installed. I remember thinking, even in the throes of pushing, “Wow, they remembered and they are making sure I get what I wanted!” I also remember seeing the doctor throwing on his cover gown and his gloves at lightning speed. A couple of good pushes later and Ephraim was born! He was very mad! He was kicking and screaming! I didn’t think he looked as big as Joel did. I also remember that Joel was really pink when he was born while Ephraim’s little feet were pretty purple. I held Ephraim on my chest for a while. The poor kid smelled like he was born in a barn because of all the meconium. Everyone was itching to find out how much he weighed…so I gave him up. On the scale he went and the verdict was formed. Ephraim Henry weighed 9lbs 2 oz! He was bigger than Joel, but he sure didn’t look like it. When his other measurements were taken we found out why he didn’t seem to be as big as Joel. Ephraim was 22 inches long!

The doctor, when all was said and done, paid me the ultimate compliment…he said to the nurses, “Man, I though the last lady was a real woman. I didn’t think she could be outdone” Then pointing to me he said, “This one here, she’s a real woman!” I don’t take many compliments. I tend to kind of pooh pooh compliments away. But this time I took that compliment and ran with it! Then a little while later he said, “See you could have just stayed at home. You didn’t need me.”

Because of the gestational diabetes Ephraim’s pediatrician said he had to stay for 48 hours to have his sugars monitored. My doctor said I was allowed to go home if I so desired. However, Kevin and I decided because of Medicaid, an early release from the hospital might not get paid for. So Kevin, Ephraim, and I stayed in the hospital for the next two days. Joel stayed with his grandma at our house some of the time and her house the rest of the time.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the experience we had. The nurses at the hospital were very kind. They seemed to bend over backwards to accommodate us and make our birth just the way we wanted, minus the at home part of course. They were also very helpful afterward while we were staying! We never got a rude nurse once! I have seen nurses at another local hospital that were very unprofessional and very nasty! I am so glad that all the nurses at our local hospital seemed so sweet and caring. The nurses carried on with leaving us alone unless we needed something. And man did we ever…with Joel, being our first child, we had plenty of sleep before he arrived. With Ephraim we knew we had house projects to do, we had to clean house constantly because of a little whirlwind named Joel, and we weren’t sleeping well knowing that our lives were about to get even more hectic. So the nurses came in handy at night time when they would take Ephraim for a while! And at our local hospital apparently the babies aren’t shipped off to the nursery they get loved on! The first morning when the nurse brought Ephraim back she told us that Ephraim really liked being held! My first thought was, “Let the spoiling begin!” And you know what…it’s really not a terrible thing to spoil a child!! But that’s another post altogether! 
As I said earlier, I was hesitant to go to the hospital. I really thought that I would be pushed into a c-section for some reason or another. However, what I found when I got there was an accommodating staff and a willingness, maybe even a desire, to make my birth as close to my home birth as possible. It may have helped that I have relatives that work at that hospital. It may have helped that a dear friend, almost midwife now, paved the way for people like me by working in that OB unit. But I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that, short of not having Joel with us, we really enjoyed our time at the hospital. We didn’t have to fight for what we wanted and the staff bent over backwards to give us the experience that we wanted. I would recommend the OB unit and doctor to other women…especially to women who want a natural birth experience. Not once was I offered any pain medications, the doctor and nurses knew I wanted to go natural and didn’t do anything to compromise that!
In no way was my great hospital experience a hindrance to my love for home birth. I still love home birth and hope to have one with our next child. There just might be a few hospital nurses, who expressed an interest in home birth, here in our home helping us welcome our next baby! Now my next task is figuring out how to get the hospital to remodel the OB unit! Birth balls and rocking chairs are great…but so are ropes for squatting, double beds for mom and dad, spa tubs, etc.! We shall see how my campaign goes! :-P

Been a while.....

I know I have promised Ephraim's birth story to some of you...it's still not on here as you can see. I am working hard on it and want to get it just right! A quick update before life pulls us to the car yet again...

Kevin is making a wonderful father of two! He takes Ephraim and Joel downstairs almost every morning so I can get a little "extra" sleep. He faithfully stood by my side during labor, he knew when he needed to be there for me and he knew when to back of a little and let me be by myself. He even knew before I did that it was time to have Ephraim, I think I was in denial.

Joel is an amazing big brother! He is so helpful, sometimes too much so! He didn't really freak out when he saw his little brother. And the first time he held him he gave him a big hug and kiss. He has been acting out a little bit more, and we take this as our cue that he needs some attention. I think he's a little jealous that baby gets to sleep with us and he keeps getting put back in his own bed...but he will live.

Ephraim was born weighing 9lbs 2oz and was 22in long. Yesterday at the doctor he weighed 9lbs 5oz! He eats like a little piggy and will probably be 30lbs by next week! He too has a latch problem though (starting to wonder if it's on my end!). Until we can get to a lactation consultant he is eating from a bottle and does get some formula as well. I broke down and gave him formula because he was absolutely irate one night because he was so hungry!

I am doing well enough. I am down 10lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight. Don't know how I managed that one! Only about 100 more to go! Towards the end of labor with Ephraim I was thinking that I didn't know if I would even have more babies (I thought I was still at 6 or 7cm). Call me crazy but I am totally ready to do it again! LoL!

Well, the birth story will be posted sometime in the next millennium so stay tuned!

Frustration....

How free are we really in this country? I'd say not very. Kevin and I have been learning this for the past two weeks as we are struggling to get any help. A person who has put in three years at a local company cannot get any assistance anywhere. Kevin lost his job a while ago, it took forever to get his unemployment, we can't really afford groceries but we get them before we pay bills, we can't get any health care because everyone wants cash first, can't go see the doctor because he needs to know we are going to get Medicaid or wants $1370, can't get on Medicaid because we won't vaccinate Joel or Ephraim, can only get the religious exemption for vaccinations if our pastor writes a letter saying that is what the church believes and it's not, we are about to lose our house, probably going to lose our children to CPS, and Kevin is probably going to end up in jail because we cannot prove anything...then Joel, Ephraim, and I will be homeless...if I still have Joel and Ephraim! With everything coming to a head all at once it is stressing me out. I don't think I would be quite as stressed if I wasn't 38 weeks pregnant with nowhere but home, without a care provider, to deliver my child. The only option at this point is to go to the ER where we will not be treated well and will probably be pushed into a terrible delivery with more threats to call CPS because we will not "comply". I know this is a lot of word vomit...but it's making me feel a little bit better. The only thing that gives me comfort right now is that there is a God in Heaven who is looking down on us and will not put us through what we cannot handle! I haven't cried yet so it must not be too much...however if I lose my husband and children that would be the last straw for me, I would probably end up in the nut house. I can't believe that this is what people wanted to accomplish. Who in their right minds wants to ruin other people's lives? Oh yeah, that's right, manipulative, conniving monsters. It's just so sad that people get "high" like that...

Ephraim Henry 4D videos....

Some are quite short so you may have to pause them to see anything! These were from 34/35 weeks when they estimated him to be a little over 6lbs!



















3D pictures may be posted tomorrow...who knows!?

Pictures...

Well, Facebook friends...Fb was being stupid not letting me upload my photos! So here are my "so far May" photos! Will try again later to get them on FB...just can't mess with it too much right now because I want to get lots of stuff done today! It's almost time for little Ephraim to get here!!

One of our beautiful apple trees!

I love these trees while in bloom!

Aren't they gorgeous?

Went running errands and this is what we saw when pulling into the alley. We laughed so hard!!

Guess Mr. Elephant wanted to go skydiving out the window!

Joelio's big boy hair cut! Isn't he cute?

Gotta love this kid...he's amazing!

A birthday cake we did. It was "Tool: Third Eye." It was pretty fun, although I was dreading it because it was for the middle of May! :-)

Kevin thought Joel was a little too quiet yesterday so he went to see what he was doing...this is what he found! It's he sweet?!

Gorgeous child! I just wanna eat him up sometimes!

Plan on putting Mr. Ephraim Henry's photos on here sometime today too! They are from 34, almost 35 weeks when he was estimated to be a little over 6 pounds! I can tell you for sure that he's lots bigger than that now! He is starting to get in the way...and there are little nobbies sticking out all over my belly! And he already has quite the attitude!! He'll be here before we know it!! :-)

Last post for the day...

Updates on our lives.

Kevin is unemployed...paycheck has ran out...and unemployment doesn't know if they are going to give him benefits. Woohoo. This makes things a little difficult. But we will make it because not even a sparrow drops without the Lord knowing it...so he knows we are hurting. People didn't think about what their actions would mean in the long run...Kevin may not be able to get another job because of all this crap we are going through.

Joel has two new teeth that cam in this week. He was very cranky!! He also say "stinky" and "baby." He takes big boy steps up the stairs! And his newest thing is giving kisses!! It's adorable, he will run up to my belly, say "baby!", and give my belly a kiss!! Oh, we also can't go to the store without Joel saying "Hi!" to everyone he passes. You can really tell who are kid people and who aren't!

Ephraim is so strong! He is very active. He got our midwife good at his last prenatal! She even yelped and said "Oh sorry!" Then when trying to listen to his heartbeat there was a lot of static because he was squirming to try and get away! When she did get his heartbeat it sounded great! She also made the comment that he's a nice sized baby. He gets another ultrasound on Tuesday at Maternal Fetal Medicine...which means he should get a 3D picture!!

I have my gestational diabetes under pretty good control. I have to get it down to an exact science to getting good blood sugars so I can have a home birth. Ephraim being breech would not risk me out of home...but the blood sugars would! I love my midwife...she gives me so many chances, up to a point anyway! She still follows her guidelines and will risk me out if need be. So I have to be really good! I have been craving a coke, a doughnut, ice cream, a cupcake, really just about anything I can't have! I've done well and stuck with my "No Cesarean for Chels" diet! I am pretty proud of myself. My blood pressure has done amazing with all of the stress we have been under lately! As long as it holds out for a couple more months we will be good there too!

So that's about all! We are doing ok with all the stress. Wishing things would just blow over so we could get back to a normal life! Even though normal has such a different meaning now! The people around us have taken on different meanings now. You never know who's for you and who's against you. We have a lot of good friends and family helping us through the storm! And we love them dearly!

Food INC.

Watch Food INC. trailer here.

I want to see this show on some levels. And then on other levels I don't even want to know! I have hear reviews and hear that this is something everyone should watch. If I can figure out how to see it I'll write a review on it. Let me know if you have seen it and think it's worth the watch!

Photos!!

Forgot to post our recent photos!

 Joel loves chocolate doughnuts...probably because of the sugar content!!

Joel loved the slides!! He only went down once with his Daddy then he was Mr. Independent!

Joel and Daddy on the big slide...Joel wanted to go down this slide on his own and Daddy wouldn't let him...I'm glad though because that would have freaked me out!

Joel getting ready to go down the slide!

Isn't he cute!?

Joel turned around and walked/climbed back to the top!

The big slide yet again!

JoelBob.

Merry Go Round was a favorite of Joel's too!

JoelBob and Daddy.

Joel was chasing this little girl around while she yelled, "Aah a baby!"

At the petting zoo.

Joel is so comfortable around animals! Love it!

Llama and goat.

I so want some of these ducks when we have a farm!

Peacocks! If our neighbors didn't care we would so have some of these right now!

Well, that's all for now...hope everyone enjoyed!!

Aweful...

I love Woman Uncensored's blog. There are so many good posts on there...she could keep a person busy for days!! One post that really made me think was her post titled '"Pearls" Before Swine'. I was given books by these people and have thrown them in the trash. Because that is where they belong! Please read the post and see what you think. I did some research on the Bible verse, "spare the rod, spoil the child." Do your research on Hebrew translations of the Bible verses! You'll be amazed. Think about this...would Jesus hit a child? Hmm....just to get one thinking...

So stupid...

I think it's stupid that someone can't even go to a gas station in their own town because people from 1/2 hour away have to take over your town as well. What is one supposed to do?...stay at home 24/7 instead of getting things they need or even want? Speeding through a gas station isn't recommended unless someone who has threatened your life is one pump over. This is so ridiculous...and almost everyone knows it! UGH! Hope they are happy...actually that's the only thing that makes some people happy...to try to make others miserable just like they are! Haha, we are doing just fine, tyvm!

Bring on the rain...And the blessings....

Well, the rain fell hard last weekend...Kevin went to jail with a $2,200 bond. Now we owe our lives to the people who bailed him out with CASH so he could be with his family for Easter! He sat in there for 9 hours "thinking and praying." We are so extremely blessed to have such caring people in our lives! He got out of jail to find out that he was no longer employed...can't say that he was too sad about that though. That place is toxic and since he's not there any more his chest pains have diminished greatly!

This weekend was quite an adventure as well! We found out to keep our lawyer we needed $2,500...we have tapped all our resources so we had to give him up after paying him $600!! However, Kevin went and met his court appointed lawyer today and said he felt a lot better about him! Then Friday JoelBob went to stay with his buddy Keely while Kevin and I went to a gestational diabetes class. I got a new bright green glucometer!! Woohoo! Then we busted our humps getting ready for our Saturday only garage sale! I was up until 4am making carrot cakes to sell! Kevin got lucky when Joel woke up inconsolable at 2am and didn't want anyone but his daddy...so Kevin got to lay down with Joel in his big bed. He said he didn't sleep a wink though because Joel kept stirring. Saturday at the yard sale we had a steady crowd all day and made around $200!! That was not including the paintings I sold...one of which was gifted back to Kevin by one of my dear friends just because it was his favorite! How sweet!! Kevin got his picture in the paper depicting him as a horrible person...my favorite part was when they put his address in there. Hello, we have children to think of paper people!! Anyway, we also were told by many people that we need to open a bakery! Kevin jumped all over that like white on rice! We got an order for a cake needed by next weekend! It's going to be a new Ford Mustang! We are also going to do some pretty blue cupcakes to fill up the order!

I am going to do some more paintings for our next garage sale...which I think is going to be Friday and Saturday. Still accepting donations!! Drop them on the front porch! Kevin and Joel love throwing garage sales...they are such people persons! Now on to the fun part....new pictures! There are so many cute ones...so bear with me!

One of my cakes...this one went to my Nana and her hubby.

Joel woke up with a fever one day and decided to cuddle with Daddy and fall back asleep! It was adorable!!

Later fever day when Joel was feeling better he apparently climbed in the stroller and Daddy found him and took this laughable picture!!

I cannot resist taking sleeping baby pictures...only problem is, this is a sleeping big boy!! :-(

Joel's bunny that we got him for Easter! It looks a little evil in this picture but it is a very sweet bunny!

 Joel and Daddy mowing the yard with the reel mower...also adorable!!!

Joel and Daddy using the Moby wrap for the first time. Joel picked those flowers himself!

Another adorable picture!!

Auntie Penny brought some bikes over for the yard sale next weekend and Kevin promptly grabbed the Moby wrap and wrapped Joel up. Joel loved it so much he threw a fit when he had to come inside!!

Look Mom!! No hands!!

So after the fit was thrown Joel and Daddy had more fun on the elliptical. Too bad everything about this picture is messy because it is really cute!! Joel looks like a ragamuffin and his Daddy has a scraggly hasn't shaved in a week beard...not to mention the messy garage sale stuff in the background. Oh well, it still says "love!"

Well, that is all for now. I am sure there will be many more stories and pictures in the weeks to come!