Just some pictures..

Rachel is two months old! Trying to catch her smiling...

Hannah got her nails painted in Nashville for the first time. She was really happy!

Elijah and his cousin Winston really bonded and played so well with one another on this trip!

They were inseperable!

My hair before we went to Nashville. It was ridiculously long that I was wearing it up all the time. The only time I could get a picture of how long it was, was right after a shower.

The new do! I really love it! It's just so much lighter!

Gosh, it's been a while!

Well, I wouldn't say life is "busy" right now, but it is very much "full" of babies. That's really all I do! Here's a run-down of a typical day: Rachel usually wakes up around 7:30, and I nurse her in the bed usually. Sometime during that, Elijah and Hannah wake up and usually play in the living room. When I finish with her, she usually goes back to sleep. Then I get up and go fix breakfast. Give them breakfast, and then I usually try and get things done around the house. Wash clothes, clean kitchen, clean up after breakfast, and take a shower! Then by that time, Rachel is back up again. I feed her and then make lunch. Clean up after lunch, and then it's time for a nap. We read a book, then I put the babies in bed. Go in several times to tell them to lay down, and stop throwing toys. Then it's time to feed Rachel again. She nurses and I lay down with her. For some reason she won't nap at this time unless I will lay with her. So when she goes to sleep, I will either take a nap too or go enjoy some silence in the house. :) Then the babies wake up, and I get them some type of snack. Rachel wakes up, and I feed her. Then I try and go about making dinner. Rachel likes to cluster feed during this time, so I'm usually trying to feed her and make dinner at the same time. Josh usually comes in around this time, and can a least monitor and play with Elijah and Hannah. Get dinner ready, and we eat. I'm usually feeding Rachel and taking bites here and there. Then it's time for bed. Elijah and Hannah get baths every other night, and pjs on, a book read, and then back in their beds. I clean up after dinner and give Rachel a bath and then nurse her again. Josh and I usually watch tv during this time. Then he goes to bed, while I finish up with her. She's usually asleep around 12, and I go and zonk out myself. Then we start it all again! That's usually how it goes down, but there are variations. Not to mention all the diaper changes, and disciplining. A good day is when mommy gets a shower, Elijah and Hannah play nice together, and Rachel gets her naps in! :) It may not be an interesting life, but it's mine right now. And I wouldn't trade it. One day I know God will have something more challenging for me, but until that day comes I know I'm just supposed to care for my children and get a healthy, warm meal on the table for dinner!

In other news, we sold Josh's trailblazer (don't try and keep up with the vehicles he's had!) and we are now looking for a new truck. So that's really been consuming our weekends. Last weekend, we went down to Florida to look at a Silverado. It turned out to have a lot of issues, and wasn't worth buying. So next weekend, we are planning another trip to go and look at some Tacomas. I hope it works out!

We also just took a long trip up to Nashville for Thanksgiving. I was nervous about the trip, but all the babies did very well! I don't know how they know, but they always get fussy/cranky in the last 30 minutes of the trip. But we played alot of games, and watched a lot of movies, and they slept a good bit. And we had a good visit with family in Nashville. Elijah and Winston are at ages were they can actually play together, and I honestly think they did the most bonding out of the whole family! They were so ridiculously cute together. Each year, the kids will be able to play more and more together, which is really exciting to me. Thanksgiving day was a success too with very many delicious dishes! And we recorded another Folsom Family album! I only wish that the whole trip was longer! Oh, and I got all my hair chopped off when I was up there, and I LOVE it!!

Now we are just trying to stay warm, it's been freezing! And getting ready for Christmas. We got our house decorated this weekend, then we went and helped decorate at Josh's parents last night. Now we just have to go and help my grandfather next! :) And then I need to finish all the Christmas shopping!

This year has been crazy. Up until I had Rachel, the year has gone soooo slowly. I honestly felt like I was pregnant for years, and there was no end in sight! Then as soon as I had her, the year has flown! She's two months old today! But it feels like I just had her last week. We weighed her last night, and she's 9 1/2 pounds now! So she's starting to pack it on. Her body is much more fuller now, and her face is getting plump!

Anyways, that's about it. I was going to post some pics, but the camera is in the car and it's way too cold right now. So I'll get it and post a picture post later!

Third time's a charm!

For babies! This time around has been soooo much easier than with the last two. And everyone says that it's because you get more experienced, which is true I'm sure. But Rachel is such a good baby! I have to give her credit. Thank you Jesus for giving me such an easy going baby during this hectic time period. He definitely knows what He's doing. I can't begin to tell you how stressed out I was imagining handling two toddlers and a newborn. But He never gives us more than we can handle, why do I ever doubt??

Honestly, I have not been strict at all with Rachel with schedules. I figured I would just take it like it comes for the newborn stage, instead of stressing over it. Well, the last few nights she has slept for about 7 hours!!! Yippee, hooray!! You feel like a new person when you get that much sleep! And I can't even take credit for it, she's just been an amazing sleeper. Here she is snoozing the morning away!

And breastfeeding is better this time too. I actually enjoy sitting down to feed her. I did not enjoy it at all with Elijah and Hannah. I was just doing it because it was good for them and honestly, because it was free! I'm so glad that I've finally had that enjoyable breastfeeding experience!

Speaking of breastfeeding, I made some nursing pads. I was going through so many of the disposables that I thought I would try some cloth ones. I was going to buy some, but then decided I would just try making some. Why had I never thought of this? And I still didn't think of it, I had help from a friend! (Thanks Kayla for the idea!) Anyways, here's the finished product. I had a couple of trial runs, but these work great! I put a vinyl cloth on the back, so they don't leak through, and I figured I'd go all out and get a cute fabric for the front. I love zebra print!

I have a one month old?

(This was written over several days time, sorry if it's disjointed!)

So, Rachel is now a month old! Really hard to believe, it's flown by! She hasn't gone in for her 1 month check-up yet, so I'm not sure how much she weighs. She's still really small, still wearing newborn clothes. But I can tell she's grown a good bit, because the newborn diapers don't swallow her anymore! :)

We're doing pretty good. We have good and bad days, but the good days definitely outweigh the bad ones! Rachel is starting to sleep really good at night. Some nights she has actually slept for about 5 hours in a row, so that's been awesome! It really makes a difference in your attitude when you can get a few hours in a row of consistent sleep! Now if we could improve the time it takes to get her to sleep, we'll be doing good! The other night I was so completely frustrated, and just tired. I put her down like 4 times, with her waking and crying in like 15 minutes each time. I finally got her to sleep around 2, which was the night after the time change so my body was really feeling like it was 3. That was a rough night. I know we'll get through this phase, so I'm trying to stay positive and enjoy this time that she's still a newborn. It passes so quickly..

Elijah and Hannah are really good with her too. Elijah is super gentle. My favorite thing he says right now is when Rachel is looking at him. He says "that baby is lookin at me, her wikes me!!" It's really adorable. And Hannah wants to touch her all the time, which kinda can get frustrating. But at least I know that they like her, and don't feel too threatened by how much time I have to spend on her.

Last weekend we had a small party for Elijah and Hannah's birthdays. With having the new baby, I decided just to do a small family party this year, but it went really good. And they both understood that it was their birthdays, so they kept asking about it. "it's my berfday?" haha, I love talking toddlers!

Josh got a job! He's actually had it for about 2 weeks now. I've been reluctant to talk about it, because it started out as a temporary job. But his boss told him the other day that "he was a breath of fresh air" and that he wanted him to work for him fulltime. So this has definitely been a blessing! It's still in the construction business, which is kinda what Josh wanted to get out of, but he's enjoying this a little more because it's with a big construction company so he gets to do bigger jobs.

During this time of unemployment, God has really showed us alot of things. Things that we wouldn't have realized without going this time. So as hard as its been, I know ultimately that there was a reason we went through it. And we aren't completely out of the fog yet, but it feels like I can see the end. One thing we've learned is how to live pretty cheaply, and to rely on God for everything!! Which is really a hard lesson to learn, and one I'm still learning everyday. Another thing we feel strongly about is that Josh is supposed to go back to school. We are still waiting on exactly what he should be going back for, but without going through this drought I don't think we would have heard this at all.


Anyways, I can't think of anything else right now. And I have some other things to accomplish before the baby awakes!

Well, Rachel is now over a week old and we are doing really good. I'm actually very surprised. I had kinda prepared myself for the worse with bringing home a newborn and still taking care of two toddlers. But we are all settling in to a routine and it seems to be working. Rachel makes it easy though. Everyone kept telling me that their third was really laid back and easy to take care of, and that describes her to a T. She usually only cries when she's hungry, and the rest of the time she's either sleeping or just watching things go on. There's usually a lot of action with Elijah and Hannah, so I guess they are keeping her entertained. And I thought I would have difficulties with them being loud and waking her, but she will sleep through all of it! Even the screaming right by her ear! Here she is just looking around.

Elijah and Hannah are adjusting very well with her too. They like to watch me change her diapers, and when she cries they will run to get me and they'll ask "Baby's hungry, Mama?" It's really cute. I can already tell that they are going to be protective over her. Josh's dad asked them last night if Rachel could stay with them, and Elijah got really upset and said no and that she had to go home with us. :) I also think having the baby has diverted their possessiveness over my attention. They don't seem to fight as often, and I'm catching them playing nicely with one another more. So that's been a plus as well! Here's Elijah talking to Rachel. She turned towards his voice and was really listening!

Hannah wanted a picture with her too!

So, life is really good right now. I feel so blessed to have Rachel. She's just a joy. The only real complaint is the cramping and the boob soreness! My milk is definitely in abundance, and I can't really figure out what I should do to fix it. I've had to pump for the last few nights, because I couldn't even lay down they were so full. But I know if I keep that up, my milk will never even out. You'd think I would be a pro at this by now. But with Elijah, I was pumping all the time because he wouldn't breastfeed for the first couple of months. Then when Hannah came, I absolutely refused to pump. I refused to pump or give her a bottle, because I just wanted it to work so badly. Now this time, I would like to have some stored milk and I would like to try a bottle with her when she's a little older, so I'm kinda new to this. But I know things will get better! And we'll figure it out.

I'm definitely not ready to take them all out by myself, so nothing much going on except for us hanging out at the house! And right now, naptime is calling my name...

Rachel Grace - Her Birth Story!

Well, we had our precious baby girl for those of you who haven't heard through facebook! She was born on Thursday, October 7 at 11:09 pm.

The day started out very normal. I had a scheduled doctor's appointment that morning. I was supposed to have decided if I was going to allow the doctor to schedule an induction, and I was going to talk to the doctor that day about it. Because of all that going on, Josh decided to go with me to the appointment to give me some moral support and to just meet the doctor and all. When we got there, they hooked me up to the monitor like always. Nothing was really going on until about half-way through when it started showing contractions about every 5 minutes or so. They weren't painful at all, so I honestly thought it was still Braxton-hicks going on. The doctor came in and commented on them and asked if I would like to be checked. I said yes! Please! I thought that would at least help me make a decision about the induction.

So he checked me, and I was 4 cm!! That's when I started getting excited. We were getting some progress now! He said he would like for me to go to the hospital to continue to get monitored because we might actually have a baby today! I asked if I could go home first to get my hospital bag, and he said that would be fine. So Josh and I went home and got everything together. We got the babies bag packed, my bag packed, and then we ate a nice lunch together. I was seriously taking my time, because I didn't want to lay in a hospital bed all day! Then we went to Josh's parents' house to drop the baby's bag off and check on them. Then we headed to the hospital; it was about 2 p.m. when we got there. I was feeling contractions during all this, but nothing that really made me think I was in labor.

We got to the hospital and they got me all checked in and strapped in. Contractions were still regular, but staying about the same for about an hour. Then they started getting smaller on the monitor. The funny thing is that these contractions were the strongest ones! I asked the nurse about that and she said that it's not always accurate. Well, after a little while of those they decided to send me home. They scheduled me an appointment for Monday, and a tentative induction for Tuesday. I was pretty sure I would go into labor before then, though, but I still didn't think it would be that day!

So we drove home and I dropped Josh off, and then I went to pick up the babies. I got to their house and layed down with Abbie in the bed and watched TV for a while until the babies got up from their nap. The contractions were slowly getting stronger and stronger and closer together. By about 5 I was pretty sure I was in labor. Contractions were about 5 minutes apart and starting to get hard to talk through. I wanted to do as much of the labor at home though, so I went for about an hour and half like that. Then about 6:30, they were about 3 minutes apart but still manageable. I went to the bathroom though, and I was bleeding. This scared me more than anything. I didn't bleed with my first two, so I either thought something was wrong or I was about to have a baby right then! Josh's mom told me it was probably the mucous plug. I debated staying home a little longer, but Josh was concerned so we decided to head back to the hospital. Everyone kept telling us that your third labor would happen a lot quicker too, and we were not prepared for a home birth!

We got to the hospital about 7 and I got strapped in again. (By the way, I loathe those straps! And having to lay on my back!) And it was confirmed, I was definitely in labor. The nurse checked me and I was 6 cm. Which was kinda disappointing. I had hoped to be farther along than that before I headed to the hospital. But I was excited too, because we were definitely having a baby! Well, I labored in that darn hospital bed (so uncomfortable!) for about 3 more hours! Josh was so good. He stayed right beside me, and helped me through each contraction. The nurse checked me at about 10 p.m. and I was only 8 cm. I was beginning to think that I wasn't going to make it through this delivery without pain meds. I was soooo extremely tired too. After some really hard contractions, I begged her to check me again! I was at 10 cm at about 11 pm!! Finally! My water had still not broken though, and I asked if she could get him to come break it. (They had to break my water on my first 2)

So the doctor came in and they got me in the position to push. When the next contraction came, he told me to start pushing. I had just started to, when he was like "Oh! Your membranes are still intact!" So he broke it right then, and the baby's head immediately popped out! But I had no idea! They hadn't told me anything. He was doing something, but I couldn't see. Apparantly, I found out later, he was sucking out the baby's mouth and nose, but I thought he was just getting things ready down there for the delivery. He then told me, "ok, one good push!" So I pushed again, and I felt the release of the whole body come out! I was so surprised, and relieved! That rush of adrenaline came, and it was amazing! I felt so amazingly good! I absolutely LOVE that feeling! So I had a hard labor, but the actual pushing lasted all of 30 seconds! I am still in shock that it happened so quickly! Actual birth time was 11:09 p.m.

So, they took her and got her all cleaned up and weighed and measured. She weighed 6 lbs. and 0.3 ounces, and was 19 inches long! Then they gave her to me, and she immediately started sucking. She nursed for about 30 minutes, and never had any problems! Thank you Lord for a good nursing baby! She's done very well ever since too!

We were released from the hospital on Saturday, and have been taking it easy ever since. I had a doctor's appointment on Monday. I had a small superficial clot on my left leg. And then Rachel had an appointment yesterday. She's doing great. She weighed in at 6 pounds even. So not much weight loss at all! Today was my first actual day of being alone with all three kids. And it was a lot better than I imagined! I actually got a shower, and the kids were all fed and we all got a nap! Pretty good I'd say!

I'm so tired...

of being pregnant and dealing with doctors. I had another discouraging appointment today. Everything went fine, just the conversation with the doctor upset me.

They put me on the monitor as usual, and the babies heartrate was looking great. He came in and started asking me questions about what the specialist said. I told him about growth being good, and he immediately asked if the doctor had said anything about inducing at 39 weeks. Can't this guy talk to me about anything else??

I know it's his job and he's probably just being cautious, but I was very annoyed. He said that again that it would probably be good to induce, and I finally just stepped up and asked him why he thought that, and how I didn't understand why I couldn't go full term if the baby's growth was good. He basically said that they induce at 39 if there might be a problem, because that's when the babies lungs are usually developed enough. He said that the baby was in the 5th percentile on size, and they wouldn't be able to tell if anything was wrong until it was delivered. So it really felt like scare tactics. And that's what I am now, just plain scared.

He said if I really wanted to I could refuse to be induced, but I would have to sign a waiver saying I refused. I'm just confused, and don't know what to do. I don't want to jeopardize the baby's health, but I also know that God has everything planned with this baby and my body. I just want to do the right thing, and I honestly don't know what that is right now.

I'm really still praying that my body will go into labor this week, and all this worrying will be over nothing. I have to make a decision about the induction by Thursday though. And if I go with the doctor, then they'll induce on Monday.

So to all my readers, can you please pray for God's will to be done, and for me to hear from God about the right choice, and for peace during this time? I would greatly appreciate it, and hopefully this will all be over soon!