great memories

as our time with the hendrix family comes to end (we head to sacramento tomorrow) we are overwhelmed with what a great trip we've had. good times with friends, great time with family. yes, lots and lots of good times. yesterday we all headed to bonneville hot springs for a relaxing day. mom and dad treated everyone to some spa treatments and we hung out at the pool, hot tub and sauna. pretty over the top.

the christmas season was kicked off about a week ago as we had a family progressive dinner. with jake & rose, adam & emily both having homes in vancouver, it made for a great night. the rules for the night were only this, that you provide your portion of the meal, and at your home, you do any family traditions you have.

we started at mom and dad's house where we were responsible for appetizers. we read the christmas story out of the 'jesus storybook bible'. then isaiah and alaythia wanted to do a dance party. one song of just them dancing, and the second song everyone dancing. isaiah picked out both songs. the first one was fast, the second was slower. we all paired up and danced in the living room for the second song u6.

we headed to jake & rose's house where they served soup, bread, cheese and wine. rose's family tradition is to sing christmas songs out of songbooks. each person gets to pick a song, each person gets a veto. you must sing 'good king wenceslaus' with a king, women and page parts being divided up. and you must sing the 12 days of christmas, and each person has a part and must act out their part. this was hilarious.

we then headed to adam & emily's house where they had worked like crazy the week before to get it ready. remodeling done, decorating done. it was beautiful all getting to see it for the first time together. we all sat at their brand new huge dining room table for the main course. they put brand new wood floors in and they were SUPER slippery. we moved into the hall/family room and began taking turns sliding in our socks. lots of fun, funny memories.

we ended the night back at mom & dad's for dessert. at this point we were all longing for the huge overstuffed purple couches. it was a pretty amazing night.

adam made a video from my footage of the night. he set it to the first song that isaiah and alaythia danced to.

some fun

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for the skeptics

on monday we had our christmas party for our preschool co-op that we're a part of. each child got to pick a name of another student and buy a present for them. we got a short list for each child of what they liked to help us with our gift giving.

i emphasized the fact that the kids each had to pick out the gift. we had fun going to target one evening to shop for their friends.

the interesting thing was alaythia picked another girl in the co-op...whose name is alethia. same name, just spelled a little differently. so for those of you who thought we were absolutely crazy for naming our daughter that, and feel sorry for her because she has such a weird name, just know, she is fine. she has a classmate with the same name!

here is the picture of the present tag...

isaiah's favorite song right now -taken from matthew 1

the red umbrella

i've mentioned it in previous posts. there have been many times when i've called it something else. for all intents and purposes, it has been our main stay, our community since we've been in louisville. and as i sit to type about it, i'm not sure i can put words to it. we were talking a few days ago, as we reminisced about the red umbrella and we said we should write a book. all of us contributing our piece. this post will not even scratch the surface, it is not a complete picture, but it's something. a beginning point.

every day, if it's not raining, or snowing, all the kids in the neighborhood come out to play. and while the kids play, the mom's sit under a red umbrella and talk. we parent too as we navigate our children, but mostly we get a chance to connect. every day. for hours. so you can imagine the friendships that have been formed.

the reality is we're all up in each others business. we're all in the same stage of life, husbands about the same thing. we help each other save money, we're quick to share our tricks on how to make it work. we're watching each other, learning, comparing, sharpening. each of our belly's grew, each of us gave birth. joy, tears, laughter. cooking each other meals, taking each others kids, even cleaning each others houses.

and today marks the end of an era, as the first of us leaves. the lump in my throat has been there all day.

i've said goodbye before. moving is a part of my life and story. i'm not sure why this one is so hard. maybe because i'm the one being left instead of the one leaving. maybe because i feel like i didn't get enough time. or maybe it's that i'm not ready to start this process. the process of people leaving little by little.

that's the really sucky thing about seminary. every one is here for a season, every one is in transition. so you know eventually you'll all go your separate ways. but this is the first, and the bonds forged in the last year are strong and true...constant.

she's taking the red umbrella with her, it's hers after all. and i wonder how big the hole will be. i wonder what louisville will look like without them.

this picture was taken on wednesday at our 'going away/christmas party'. the coloring is not great, but i'll forever be grateful for it. each of us with our newest additions, there are 6 other kids not seen here. and rachel, in the middle, had her baby 2 days go.


when i was going through pictures, i found some of our kids together and was shocked at how much they have grown up, and grown up together, in the last year plus.

jenna & alaythia then - just weeks after we moved here.
jenna & alaythia now.
lauren & isaiah then.
lauren & isaiah now.
we love you bilbys. you will be missed!

three of a kind

we're having so much fun with the kids. each of them brings so much joy in their own way.

sophia laughed for the first time the other night. matt was giving her zurbits. her belly laugh was a straight shot of joy into my heart. she also is so into her fists. often times when she's sitting in her bouncy chair you can catch her holding one or both up and staring. she loves them so much she's decided she wants me to kiss them. so when she's nursing, she raises her fist, power-to-the-people style and keeps it there until i kiss it. she'll do it several times until she feels i've given it enough love. it's adorable.

alaythia is so into christmas. for some reason she calls it chris-me. once all the christmas decorations were up she said, 'chris-me makes me happy mommy!' christmas lights send her into near hysterics. she's impossible to take into stores because every decoration, every gift sends her gasping and running to check it out. her joy over all that she's seeing brings a new excitement to it all.

isaiah is TOTALLY into football. he's interested in any sport that's on really, but this has been taken to a new level. he not only knows all the teams, all the positions and who is playing who...wait for it...he's created his own fantasy football team. matt ended up writing it down and keeping track so they could 'play' each other every week. we're sorry we ever let him see the game. that's all he talks about. this receiver did this, that tight-end did that. and if you'll let him, he'll tell you all about it too. thursday through monday it's all football baby. but it's pretty darn cute to see his big brown eyes light up as he repeats all that he's just seen.

3 months

our sophia is 3 months old today. the past few weeks have been so fun getting to really know her and enjoy her. it might sound ironic after the few months that we've been through, but i say with honesty and sincerity that she is our 'angel baby' now.

she is happy and engaging. she would spend her entire day staring at you and talking with you. she never tires of trying to tell stories or smiling. she is alert, and engaging with anyone that comes up to her. she quickly welcomes with a squirm and smile. she will be our social butterfly i think.

she loves to stand. her little body is filling out now that she doesn't burn so many of her calories screaming, but she is still so strong. standing is her preference as she talks with you.

she has discovered her hands...and her fingers. i try to shove that pacifier in, but she will not be fooled. she actually loves her wrist and fingers so much that they often keep her awake as she explores them.

she's a sleeper....all night long. she's leaps and bounds earlier than my other two kids and i'm oh-so-grateful. often times she'll sleep for 10-12 hours at night.

she loves her running water. in the screaming days that was the only thing that would calm her. we would spend most our time standing at the kitchen sink. she still likes it to go to sleep. we did buy a sound machine, but she can tell the difference.

we're so thankful for sophia. each godshall child has entered the world with a bang, they each have had their drama. i think that probably has more to do with their mother and father than them, we breed drama i guess. we're thankful to be on the other side of the drama with sophia and are truly enjoying her, not being able to quite get enough.

fun again

as we continue to climb out of the past few months, i realize there have been great strides made. despite the sickness, and exhaustion there have been sweet moments that continue to stand out in my mind.

like watching isaiah take off on his 2nd try on a two wheeler. he has mastered it since, and does it all on his own.

like despite my previous speculations, alaythia WILL NOT be walking down the aisle in a diaper. i heard it was possible but never believed it was true - that one day a child will wake up and decide to do it. i can give testimony to it's validity now. you KNOW i never would have attempted it in the state we've been in.

like sophia not absolutely hating her car seat. it's not her favorite, but we can actually take her places in it.

we made a trip to costco the other day. sophia didn't scream on our way there. alaythia used the potty with no issues, isaiah was a happy, helpful big boy. on the way home, the music going, the kids singing along, the sun warming our skin through the window, matt looked over at me and said, 'is it possible life is getting fun again?'

i think so.

happy sophia

we call her our angel baby now. she sleeps through the night and plays happily during the day. we had a big test today confirming that she has reflux... but the medication seems to be doing the trick.

as requested

these puzzles (missing just one) were 'welcome home' gifts from daddy. we tried to get all 4 done last night before bed, but just got to three.

the chubster

i have to find the other pictures i have of isaiah and alaythia in this same position.

she LOVES her elephant friends and her lion.

girlies.

new and improved

we're home now. have been for several days. we arrived back in kentucky different people. i'm still sure that i can't fully describe to you where we were. emotionally, physically, spiritually. a very dark, dark place.

but in vancouver there is a concentration of family. and it took every one of them to nurse us back to life. a few days before we headed home i finally felt like myself again, i felt human. back home, in kentucky, neighbors and friends took care of matt. the 5 of us reunited totally different people. i was ready to come home. matt was rested, caught up. isaiah was taller. alaythia could speak clearer.

but 'the most significant change' award goes to the youngest of this godshall bunch. about a week or so into our visit she just stopped. she stopped screaming for no apparent reason. she started smiling, sitting contentedly, cooing and talking with people. and now that she doesn't spend ALL DAY screaming, she's packing on the pounds. she gets chunkier every day.

and we are different.

words could not describe what family did for us. they gathered together, they each took turns doing what they could, they gave, they sacrificed and they brought us back to life. then they sent us out to continue the journey we're on. and i'm more convinced, amazingly, that this is the journey we are supposed to be on.

i long to be near family someday. after these past weeks and months i'm more convinced we're not designed to do this alone. but until we are, i will be grateful for what we get, concentrated chunks. and be more grateful for the lot that was given to me. an amazing lot at that.

usually

in most cases silence doesn't necessarily mean somethings wrong. in this case, it is the truth.

i'm not even sure i can fully - or even try - express why. it was a lot of things.

as i type, i type from vancouver. grandma called on tuesday afternoon and suggested that the kids and i fly to vancouver since we had a friend from portland out who could help us get there. i didn't even consider it because i didn't have the energy to even try. but matt and courtney helped me get there.

at 6pm on tuesday we decided to go, at 6am on wednesday morning we were all on our way to two different airports to meet up on the other side of the country.

we have been sick, exhausted and so run down. we haven't left the house since we got here. sleep is the priority and we're all starting to feel a bit better.

we're thankful for family, to get us here and to sustain us while we're here. daddy is home, getting sleep and trying to finish the semester strong. hopefully when we meet up again we'll all be in a different place.

2 months

you have changed our world sophia hope. we love you!

hello world

hoedown filled up

we went to our first hoedown last night here in kentucky. complete with cowboy hats and a blue grass band all taking place in a barn. and yes, i forgot every camera i own.

it was an event for the school matt teaches at. the families and teachers of the school were all invited. we drove outside of the city for quite sometime to a large family farm with a huge barn. i'm always shocked at how rural kentucky is, as i don't get out of the city much. in the city i feel at home, but i'm shocked the minute i leave it.

it was a good night, some of the highlights:

-isaiah and alaythia were the first to start the dancing with the blue grass band. as soon as the music started they both stood up and started dancing. i don't know if i've been more proud of them. different reasons.
1-the love for dance is in them, that is something i wanted to pass down, and it looks like it has.
2-they are uninhibited. they don't know to care what other people might think, it's what we do in our family culture and so that's what they do when they are in public. i hope there are MANY things that transfer that way.
3-they were together. they danced together ALL NIGHT. they love each other. as the crowd swelled and they joined hands with other kids to circle and spin, at times alaythia got overwhelmed. but with the big brother she has, who can coach her along and watch out for her, she did just fine.
4-they felt so big getting to make decisions for themselves all night. we basically let them do whatever they wanted. we would watch from a distance and every so often they would run back and make up some important fact to tell us. or ask permission for something they were already doing, just to draw attention to what big kids they were.

-sophia slept the whole time in the baby bjorn.

-isaiah has a confidence that i hope never leaves him. toward the end of the night, we were getting ready to head home and isaiah begged to go outside. there was a group of 5th and 6th graders playing....well, it was that girl and guy flirting thing. a lot of running and screaming. isaiah jumped right in. he didn't know what they were playing, and even though they all were older than him, he joined. there are kids playing, he wanted to play, so he did. he ran and laughed as they changed directions, even though he didn't know what was going on. when they were done and the groups started to walk away he threw his hands up and said, 'hey guys, what's up?' yeah, he's 4. they were gracious, but didn't invite him to go with them. he seemed unfazed. i hope he retains that confidence.

-i love being the teacher's wife. after years of always being the student, last night, for the first time the tables were turned. and i'll admit, i was proud of my husband. he was gracious to the parents that came up and made comments about his work load. he complimented children to their parents and i saw the difference in made in their eyes. i heard him articulate the vision he has for the students learning latin, and his hope for them. and i was thankful for the encouragement he got from others about the discussions he's prompted in homes with the homework he's assigned for his logic classes.

yes, it was a good night. i was filled up.

p.s. on the sophia note: i have changed my diet, taking out fat and diary. the reflux seems to be less intense, not gone, but seems to bother her less. and per sophia's great grandmother we are trying chamomile tea. i drink it and so does she. the crying is less, not gone, but less. she's decided she wants her bed time to be 3am. yeah, that's not going to work much longer.

down to the bounce

after days and days of crying without being comforted, i believe we are stretched thinner than we ever have been before. i said last week we were hanging on by a thread. that thread feels like it's about to snap.

but today...today she smiled. not in her sleep, not because of gas, but a real look-you-in-the-eye smile. alaythia was holding her, she was locked on with daddy. and in typical fashion, mommy missed it. but she smiled. a bit of sophia came through today and i felt like maybe i might get to know this little girl someday.

------

i bounce and sway, shush and hum. i stand in my bathroom with the fan going, sophia seems to like that better. alaythia pops her curly-haired head in the door, 'mommy? what you doing?' 'trying to put sophia to sleep. what are you doing?' she convinces me to come out to the living room where the boys are reading books, she take a detour into her bedroom and picks up her baby doll on the way. all of the sudden she's at my side. bouncing, swaying. our hips bump as we sway. (actually it's more like my hips hitting her head!)

my baby starts to fuss. i invite her to bring her baby into the bathroom with me. so the four of us head back in. i can barely see her face in the bottom of the mirror. i bounce, she bounces. i hum, she hums. i start to shush, she shushes. i can't help but look at my daughter. my daughter.

we're both standing in front of the mirror, she copies my every move. how many times have i been in this situation? but never as the mother. she catches my eye and we both smile. our noses scrunch up the same and our shushing sound changes. we laugh through our bouncing and breath at the same moment.

i'm struck with her beauty. with the fact that she's mine. i'm overwhelmed that she's taking all her cues from me. down to the bounce. my heart is full as i bounce one and watch one bounce her own baby doll.

then daddy comes in with her toothbrush, yes, even mommy's have to brush their teeth.

quote of the day

there isn't much time for anything right now. we're in the thick of things. and this quote sums it all up. it's 4:30pm as matt is pouring himself some freshly brewed coffee. i hear him mumble to himself in the kitchen:

'man does not live on coffee alone....that's why i have my lucky charms.'

take that cow down

thursday night is 'kids eat free' night at chick-fil-a. so we thought we'd try it out this past week. it was packed and we saw several friends there that night. because it was family night they thought it would be fantastic to have the chick-fil-a cow there walking around. we were talking with friends when the cow came around the corner.

suddenly alaythia was shaking and clinging to my leg. she was so afraid she couldn't even cry. i looked down and told her it would be okay and she said in a shaky voice, 'noooooo.' i could see and feel that she was beyond reasoning so i picked her up, said goodbye and walked to go order our food in the opposite direction of the cow. alaythia was quiet and watching the cow's every move. we circled around it, stood between her and the cow and finally got to our seat. as we were eating alaythia kept a close eye on where the cow was and made sure it came no where near us.

all of the sudden the cow started toward our table. alaythia started to shake in fear and matt said, 'alaythia, don't you worry. i can take that cow down!' 'what?!' she says in her cute little voice. 'i'll take the cow down, it won't hurt you.'

and then it was over. she was no longer afraid of the cow. instead she spent the rest of our dinner standing in the booth and yelling repeatedly, 'daddy, you take that cow down!' while pointing her finger and swinging her arm. matt would nod and reassure her that she had it right.

that was last thursday. every day since, no less than three times a day, alaythia will say to matt, 'daddy, you take the cow down?' 'yes, alaythia, i'll take that cow down!' but in reality, it's much more than a funny story. matt and alaythia have had a break through. it's like, she's finally got it - daddy has her back. in fact, today she said, 'daddy, you take the cow down...i no be afraid.'

oh sweet girl, it's a whole new world. you understand in a new way that your dad is on your side. and there is no need to be afraid.

tu-tu

there is so much to write about. about the date night that matt and i went on last night (with sophia) to cheesecake factory...on a gift card from our community group from church. how the gift card came with babysitting...and a group of women who came and cleaned my house while i was away. amazing huh?

or the red umbrella. that is going to go get it's own post. the neighborhood women who gather around the red umbrella every day, and who have been and continue to be a huge support to me. how i had no idea the community i was moving into when i arrived here.

but those things will take a backseat to nicknames. that's right nicknames. we seem to be obsessed with them lately. alaythia especially.

in typical mom fashion, when one of my kids is in trouble their middle name is used. isaiah martin has been said a lot lately. alaythia now thinks when there is something serious to be said, you add 'martin' to it. tonight i heard her say 'daddy martin!' i'm sorry martin family, i know when we named isaiah you were afraid your name might get used this way. but be encouraged, you're a part of our everyday life!

we have been adamant from the beginning that our kids are named what they are because we like those names. you inevitably get asked when you tell your child's name, 'what are you going to call them?' our answer has always been their full name. that's why we were naming them that. sophia was no different. before her arrival we would say, it is not sophie or soph...even though we have zay man and layth. you'd think we would have learned.

alaythia has started the downward slippery slop of a nickname for sophia, the sibling-given names are the ones that stick i'm afraid. 'hi sophia tunia!' at first i didn't know if i heard it right, but she's repeated it several times. i'm sure one day we'll be calling sophia 'tu-tu' and someone will ask us how in the world we got to 'tu-tu' from sophia. we'll trace each nickname in order until we come back to the beginning. it's a lot like how you get 'beej' from maddie, or 'budge' from laura.

matt's even joined in. sopherific (which comes from soporific - which means sleep inducing).

particular princess

well, it looks like our particular princess isn't so particular and just in pain. yesterday the doctors confirmed what we had thought, that sophia has refulx. basically never ending heartburn. that would make me scream all the time too. so we'll see after a few days of medication if it makes a difference.

good signs

it's been a little rough around here lately. our little sophia is a doll, but she is...as her father said tonight to someone...particular. she likes things a certain way and will let you know if it's not to her liking. it could be other things, things that are bothering her, and we're going to the doctor tomorrow to check it out. but for now, we'll say, there has been a lot of crying. (as i type, daddy is taking a turn, cause mommy's been going all day and can't seem to make it stop).

despite our little particular princess, her siblings seems unaffected. tonight as we were preparing to leave our small group alaythia walked me over to the person holding sophia and said, 'mommy, we have to get sophia!' the person joked that she was going to take sophia home for the week and alaythia quickly responded, 'no! she goes with us.' i was oh-so-very encouraged. at two and half, when your little sister doesn't do much but eat, sleep and cry, when your mommy's arms are always full with someone besides you, i bet it would be tempting to say 'okay'. but despite it all, alaythia still wanted sophia to come home with her. she still wants to hold her and kiss her. i'm so thankful.

isaiah, in his astute observations popped off last night (after trying to hold sophia only to give up after she started screaming) with, 'mom, why does sophia hate everyone but you?' i tried to explain that she is more used to me because she was inside me for so long. my voice, my bounce, my smell. and that she was still trying to figure things out. i explained that her body is still so new and she scares herself with all the new things that happen to her and surround her. but i assured him that one day, very soon, he will become her favorite person and she will laugh at him and beg to play with him. his face lit up with the thought.

unbelievably, there are new parts of my heart opening up. i didn't think that was possible. when i see isaiah hold sophia and see how similar they look, i stare in awe. there's a 'type' of them. matt and i together make the same looks and i see it in two faces staring back at me. when i see isaiah and alaythia love sophia, invite her in to their lives, long for her to be a part of their world...i'll admit my heart hurts. it's not pride...it's new. i can't describe it yet. but i like it.

getting to know sophia

it's four weeks today since sophia's arrival. the things i've learned about sophia so far are:

-she HATES to be naked. if you're changing a diaper, changing her clothes or giving her a bath, she screams like there's no tomorrow...the entire time.
-she loves her pacifier. that's new to me since my other two could care less. but she loves them.
-she likes to be snuggly. she gets papoosed at night and sleeps like a champ. she gets wrapped up in a soft blanket during the day and she goes out. comfort is key to sophia.

i've noticed a significant change in her today, it is her birthday after all (it is only 10:30, but hey, it was significant). she stayed awake for almost an hour today after eating, and didn't fuss. she was bright eyed and loved getting a change of scenery. even looking at the transformers that brother was playing with.

she has completed our family, bringing a sense of finality and peace. even though we're tired and still adjusting, matt and i have commented several times how nice it is to have her here and to know all the members of our family.

upswing

well, it's life almost back to normal. i'm happy to report that none of the adults have come down with the sickness, and we've had one and half days of semi-normalcy. actually, as i type, all three of my kids are napping...AT THE SAME TIME!

i know, i shouldn't be blogging, i should be sleeping. don't worry, i already did. and now maybe i can catch up on a few things.

isaiah is not 100%, but he's much better. he wants to run and play and be his normal self. i let him do that yesterday, but by the end of the day he was pretty exhausted. so today we've tried to take it a little more slowly. not easy for a 4 year old who has been sick the past few days.

thanks for your prayers and well wishes. i think we're on the upswing.

p.s. i just had to include this picture. we weren't much for the picture taking those days, but when i saw this, i had to capture it. papa really stepped in when daddy was gone. for a while he read to isaiah from a new book isaiah got from grandpa the week before. i couldn't help but think of princess bride and the grandpa that comes to read to his sick grandson to pass the time.

oh we had no idea

really, alaythia was nothing. i thought it was bad then. oh no. it was only the beginning.

alaythia rallied in about 36 hours, only throwing up twice. really by sunday evening we knew she was on the mend. isaiah had shared her cup just hours before she threw up, so we knew it was coming. but saturday, nothing...sunday, nothing... we started to believe we were out of the clear.

oh no. we all woke up to screaming monday morning. and it didn't stop, he spent ALL DAY sick, sick, sick. at 6am this morning, when isaiah was still going, it was a consensus that we would call the doctor to have him seen.

daddy was flushing throw up in his shirt and tie this morning before he left for work. papa was scrubbing couches, gg was changing clothes and it wasn't even 7am yet.

we headed to the doctor where they tested and poked. isaiah didn't talk. his eyes were sunken in, vacant stares. he had not kept even a sip of water down. the doctor didn't like what she saw, and after blood tests decided that he needed to go to the local children's hospital. before my mother-in-law and i knew what was happening, we were on our way to get IV fluids and a stomach xray.

i kid you not.

isaiah and i checked in at the ER. papa, gg and girls drove to get matt from work. when matt walked through the ER doors over to isaiah and i huddled in the corner, zay man and i could not hold back the tears. but sophia was hungry and i had to go. i kissed my men and headed out.

i would get text messages to update me. 'he has strep also'. 'waiting for the IV'. 'IV in, stud'. daddy and his boy getting it done.

anti-nausea medicine, ibuprofen, a bag of fluid and a prescription for antibiotics. half way through the bag our boy reemerged. he's running, playing, fighting with his sister. and just hours ago he was lethargic and vacant looking.

apparently it's a form of strep and it was causing the throwing up. the younger you are, the better you respond to it. make sense that alaythia did better than him. and the doctor said sophia is to young to get it.

now we're not out of clear yet, there are 4 adults who have been covered and splattered, snuggled and kissed. but honestly, i'm not sure how much more we can take. i'm not sure how much more i can take. when i think about the fact that this all could have happened when i was on my own (because i haven't even gone into what matt's had to produce for school in the past few days) i shudder. really, i cry in thankfulness for papa and gg and all they have done for us in the past days.

yesterday matt said to a neighbor in passing...it can't get much worse than this. oh we had no idea what today was going to hold.

the chaos continues

here are pictures of sophia, what everyone really wants.


on the update front we just can't seem to get a break. after the bronchitis and one round of antibiotics, i found out i had another infection. i spent most of last week feeling horrible and trying to figure out what medication would be safe for me to take with sophia nursing also. frustration, confusion and lots of tears as 3 different doctors told me 3 different things.

but we're on antibiotics that are safe and i'm starting to feel better. yesterday papa and gg were set to arrive. about 2 hours before they arrived alaythia came down with the flu. i'll spare you the details, but i'll say that for the next hours matt and i just stared at each other in disbelief, not saying anything but staring in utter shock. it seems never ending.

we played musical beds last night and have just been laying low to see if anyone else comes down with it. i will say that reinforcements arrived just in time. we'll see how the next few days pan out.

new way of life

so it's our first day on our own. grandpa and grandma left yesterday. i spent the day weepy. being labor day matt has taken a little break...still studying, just not quite as much.

we're well on our way around here. my recovery from the c-section was the best and quickest so far. BUT as i was just starting to feel a very tiny bit normal, i got bronchitis. yep. imagine trying to cough, spasming your abdomen - as it tries to go back together. fire. pure fire.

so we had some set backs. i finished my antibiotics today, still coughing, but am so much stronger. it doesn't take two people and 4 hands pushing on my abdomen to make the cough bearable.

sophia is doing great. nursing like crazy, sleeping like a champ. her brother and sister fight to hold her every day. yesterday at dinner isaiah popped off with, 'i love sophia so much!' alaythia gets right up in her face and tries to tickle her. she gets so overwhelmed she just says, 'hi! hi! hi!' over and over.

me...i'm convinced that i'm screwing them all up. i'm too hard on the firstborn, the second is so content i feel bad that i'm not paying enough attention to her, and feel like i'm not holding the newborn enough. i know it's gonna take me a bit to get three figured out. i know i will, and i'm trying to give myself grace as it hasn't even been two weeks yet. :)

complete

pictures

sleeping at the hospital

the famous position...this really is sophia this time!

daddy at home with his girls.

big brother loves to hold his sister, and has this look just about every time. i kid you not.

after a bath and getting all dolled up this morning, alaythia took a turn.

alaythia was concerned that sophia didn't have any 'friends' to sleep with. she came out and told us that she had put some in her bed. daddy went in to make sure they weren't on her face...this is what he found.

after a good eat.

sophia hope

as i type i have a bundle of tightly wrapped pinkness at my side.

thank you for your prayers. everything went fantastically. not one hiccup. and i can honestly say that sophia's birth was peaceful and joy filled. thank you for your prayers! the LORD is faithful.

stats: our smallest! 9lbs 8 oz. 20 inches long. (i get a newborn stage!) born at 12:43pm with jet black hair.

i'll let the pictures do the talking even though there is so much to say.

taken as we were leaving for the hospital

if i didn't KNOW it was sophia, i would think it was isaiah.

my first look

my first kiss

daddy and his youngest girl

sleepy time

the godshall women

finally getting to hold her

and kiss her

big brother was a pro. and he was just that...big!

auntie rose

uncle jake

big brother can't get enough

my world